Images Of Depression-Era Louisiana: The Fsa Photographs Of Ben Shahn, Russell Lee, And Marion Post Wolcott

In the 1930s, the U.S. government famously sent photographers across the country to document on film the need for federal assistance in rural areas. Dorothea LangeÆs well-known image Migrant Mother came from this effort, along with thousands of other photographs. Ben Shahn, Russell Lee, and Marion Post Wolcott contributed to this compelling body of images. As primary photographers for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) in the state of Louisiana, the three took more than 2,600 photographs, recording the modest homes, family gatherings, and working lives of citizens across the state. In Images of Depression-Era Louisiana, Bryan Giemza and Maria Hebert-Leiter curate more than 150 of those photographs, offering a riveting collection that captures this pivotal time in LouisianaÆs history. The bookÆs stunning photo gallery, with original captions, provides a moving visual tour of Louisiana during a period of economic struggle and transition. Organized by photographer, parish, and date, the revealing images reflect an era when extreme poverty exacerbated the divide between classes and races. Scenes of agricultural and rural communitiesùfamilies in clapboard houses, sugarcane cutters in the field, and trappers navigating bayousùas well as cityscapes of New OrleansÆs bustling markets, busy docks, and peaceful Jackson Square demonstrate the scope of the photographersÆ work and the diversity of conditions and occupations they found. Giemza and Hebert-Leiter trace the genesis of the FSA Collection, examine its role in promoting the documentary style of picture-taking, and explore the motivations and methods of the collectionÆs head, Roy E. Stryker. They sketch the biographies, techniques, and perspectives of Shahn, Lee, and Wolcott, explaining how the photographers operated in Louisiana from their first experiences to their last days in the state. Letters and other archival documents further illuminate the three artistsÆ impressions of Louisiana, its people, and its traditions.

• | Author: Bryan Giemza, Maria Hebert-Leiter
• | Publisher: Lsu Press
• | Publication Date: Nov 08, 2017
• | Number of Pages: 160 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Hardcover/Photography
• | ISBN-10: 0807167959
• | ISBN-13: 9780807167953