It's harder to take a picture than it looks. All the elements of a photo need to be perfect to create a capturing image - light, balance, focus, vantage point and framing.

Photographers know these things and study them intently in the classroom or experiment with them out in the field.

A number of influential photographers mastered these techniques by working out in the field in the 1930s. Among them, Walker Evans, Berenice Abbott and Charles Sheeler specifically stand out.

Their work has become known as modernist photography, which is characterized by clean, sharp, focused images that create abstractions of the world. Often they have a certain clarity and precision about them, with elements of geometry and decontextualism.

"Modernism is a 20th century art movement," said Elizabeth Whiting, curator of education at Kresge Art Museum. "There is a focus on the elements of art - line, shape, color, form, texture."

The modernist photographers' canvas was the changing American landscape of the '30s; their subjects ranged from its urban cities to its industrial powers to the faces of its citizens.

But for the general public, little is known about photographer Luke Swank, who probably began his work in the 1920s. By the '30s Swank's career as a modernist photographer was beginning to take off.

In 1932, Swank's work was displayed at the Museum of Modern Art , or MoMA, in New York in an exhibit entitled "Murals by American Painters and Photographers." It was in fact the first time the MoMA showed photography in the museum.

Swank was very much a contemporary of his fellow modernist photographers. He exhibited with them and communicated with them.

"Swank was very active in art photography when he was alive. He had a reputation of national stature," journalism Professor Howard Bossen said.

Unfortunately, Swank seemingly disappeared in 1943 when he grew gravely ill, and then died in 1944. Afterward, the popularity of his work decreased and he was almost forgotten.

This month at Kresge, however, Bossen is trying to expose people to Swank's work and show how influential he can be.

"From what I've seen from photography … he's one of the best," said journalism junior Cassie Brenske, who is taking a photojournalism class.

Taking a class isn't necessary for learning about modernist photography. The first step to exploring the subject could be a trip to Kresge to see the Swank exhibit. There also will be a symposium called "Thirties America: Images and Ideas" on September 23 and 24.

Take note of Swank's use of light. "In a lot of his pictures he uses what you would call strong lighting," Bossen said. "You have to peer off into the shadows to see the details."

Another thing to be aware of is the composition of Swank's work.

"He has this uncanny ability that everything is in balance. If you move one thing then everything is mucked up," Bossen said.

In some examples, Swank's series of city landscapes capture only certain elements of the city scene.

"Cities do have sky, but he doesn't show it," audiology and speech sciences freshman Megan Sutton said. "The city compositions are very dense."

The extreme care Swank used to capture the right scene is clearly evident with just one glance. Many of his city and steel compositions focus on the lines created by structures.

And then there are his subjects. The exhibit is divided into six sections: Steel, Circus, People, Transformations, This Is My City and Rural Architecture and Landscape.

Swank offers an interesting angle of circus life. In his photos, patrons see behind-the-scenes images, often showing its performers in nonsterotypical contexts. One of Swank's photos shows a clown reading a newspaper.

If the modernist photography of Swank is appealing, then perhaps a trip to New York to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art or the MoMA might be an option. Both contain photography from the '30s. Those interested also can learn about modernism from "Documentary Expression and Thirties America" by William Stott or "Documenting America, 1935-1943" edited by Carl Fleischhauer and Beverly W. Brannan - two books that are good places to start.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about modernism and 1930s photography is that it captured a particular time period for posterity. Much of Swank's work focuses in particular on bygone subjects, such as the circus scenes or conditions for steel factories. Every image is fleeting.

"One of the things he concentrated on was a vanishing America," Bossen said. "He was fascinated by things he thought would be passing."

Jacqueline WayneGuite can be reached at waynegui@msu.edu.