Who was Jack Delano? (1914-1997)
Jack Delano was an American
photographer for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) and a composer
noted for his use of Puerto Rican folk material.
Delano was born as Jack Ovcharov in Voroshilovka, 120 miles southwest of
Kiev, Ukraine and moved, with his parents and younger brother, to the
United States in 1923. Between 1924 and 1932 he studied graphic
arts/photography and music (viola and composition) at the Settlement
Music School and solfeggio with a professor from the Curtis Institute in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania After being awarded an art scholarship for
his talents, he attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA)
where, from 1928 until 1932, he studied illustration and continued his
musical training. While there, Delano was awarded the Kesson traveling
fellowship which he took to Europe where he bought a camera that got him
interested in photography.
The ubiquitous cañaveral jíbaro dió "fuego a la lata" (fire to the furnace)
After graduating from the PAFA, Delano proposed a photographic project
to the Federal Art Program: a study of mining conditions in the
Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania anthracite coal area. Delano sent sample
pictures to Roy Stryker and applied for a job at the FSA. Through the
help of Edwin Rosskam and Marion Post Wolcott, Stryker offered Delano a
job at $2,300/year. As a condition of the job, Delano had to have his
own car and driver's license, both of which he acquired before moving to
Washington, D.C.
Before working at the FSA, Delano had done his own processing and
developing but he didn't have to do either of that at the FSA. Other
photographers working for the FSA include Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange,
and Gordon Parks. In 1943 FSA was eliminated as "budget waste" and
subsumed into the Office of War Information (OWI).
He travelled to Puerto Rico in 1941 as a part of the FSA project. This
trip had such a profound influence on him that he settled there
permanently in 1946.
The "arrabales" (slums) were built anywhere that had space
With his wife Irene (a second cousin to fellow photographer Ben Shahn)
he worked in the Community Division of the Department of Public
Education producing films, for many of which Delano composed the
score. Delano also directed "Los Peloteros", a Puerto Rican film about
poor rural kids and their love for baseball. The film remains a classic
in Puerto Rican cinema.
Jack Delano's musical compositions included works of every type:
orchestral (many composed for the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra),
ballets (composed for Ballet Infantil de Gilda Navarra and Ballets de
San Juan), chamber, choral (including a commission for Coro de Niños de
San Juan) and solo vocal. His vocal music often showcases Puerto Rican
poetry, especially the words of friend and collaborator Tomás Blanco.
Prison Dance
Blanco, Délano and his wife Irene collaborated on children's books. The
most prominent of these remains a classic in Puerto Rican literature:
The Child's Gift: A Twelfth Night Tale by Tomás Blanco, with
illustrations by Irene Délano and incidental music (written on the
margins) by Jack Délano.
His score for the film "Desde las nubes" demonstrates an early use
of electronic techniques. Most of his works composed after he moved to Puerto
Rico are notable for using folk material in a classical form.
CLICK here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1904832466/jibaroscorner
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