Ralph Steiner, associated with many of the best films or the American documentary movement, began his camera career as a still photographer. His first two films, H2O and Sea Weeds, he produced on a special grant. Both won the acclaim of the advance guard audiences of that day, with H2O especially favored. A simple study of the patterns of light and shadows on water, it approches the abstract film in its climax as the camera becomes increasingly absorbed with texture and design.
