Art; Paul Strand: The Photographer's Spent Flash From: The Washington Post | Date: December 5, 1990| Author: Paul Richard | Copyright (null) The Washington Post. This material is published under license from the Washington Post.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post.Copyright information

Like quarterbacks and chess players and investigative reporters, most so-called "straight" photographers do their strongest work when young. While the greatest of great painters, Titian, say, or Goya, develop old-age styles and instead of growing stale just keep on getting better, most photographers decay.

One such is Paul Strand (1890-1976), the pioneering modernist whose centennial retrospective is on view at the National Gallery of Art.

Had Strand died in his twenties, h...