An exploration of challenges faced by New Deal-sponsored photographers Gordon Parks, Dorothea Lange, Russell Lee, Walker Evans, Jack Delano and Marion Post Wolcott, who were led by photographer and economist Roy Stryker. KCET Monday (tonight) at 10pm or August 23 (Saturday) at 11pm.
Photography was not the primary work of the Farm Security Administration. The FSA was a New Deal agency designed to combat rural poverty during a period when the agricultural climate and national economy were causing great dislocations in rural life. The photographers who worked under the name of the FSA were hired on for public relations; they were supposed to provide visual evidence that there was need, and that the FSA programs were meeting that need. Beyond serving this institutional image, the photographers were to document aspects of "the American way of life" that caught their eye. This looser and farther-reaching mission ultimately accounted for the vast file of photographs (over 80,000 black and white images) that is now considered one of the most famous documentary photography projects ever.
No comments:
Post a Comment