Mildred “Chick” Strand’s accomplishments as an artist spanned more than three decades. In the early 1960s, with a new anthropology degree in hand, she turned her attention to ethnographic filmmaking. This early work focused on Meso-American cultures explored through the language of the experimental documentary. She also founded Canyon Cinema, which gave rise to the San Francisco Cinematheque. Acting in response to a lack of public venues for independent films, they were part of a wider explosion in American avant-garde film.
Strand’s subjects increasingly became women. She developed her own distinctive film style: backlit subjects photographed in close-up, in motion, with a handheld telephoto lens. The technique produced sensual, lyrical images that became Strand’s signature. Her entire filmography numbers nearly twenty works, and along the way, she also became an accomplished photographer and painter.
