Likes of Us: Photography and the Farm Security Administration

Stuart Cohen, Peter Bacon Hales,

ISBN 10: 1567923402 / ISBN 13: 9781567923407

Published by David R. Godine Publisher October 2008, 2008

About this Item

Housed at the Library of Congress, the archives of the Farm Security Administration constitute an essential visual record of American life from the late 1920s through the onset of the Second World War. The FSA archive includes the work of dozens of photographers, from acknowledged giants like Walker Evans, Ben Shahn, and Dorothea Lange to Marion Post Wolcott and Russell Lee, whose names and work may be less familiar. This book collects work from nine of these trips ? Evans in Louisana and Alabama, Shahn in West Virginia, Lange in California, and others ? uniting them with Stryker's shooting scripts, letters, and other relevant archival documents. Reproduced in duotone, the 175 photographs in The Likes of Us ? all printed from the original negatives at the Library of Congress ? o? er a rare opportunity not only to see a choice selection of famous and little-known images but also to understand the working of one of the government's most original and creative pre-war initiatives. Wrapped in Brodart dust jacket protector.

Seller Inventory # 45784

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Likes of Us: Photography and the Farm Security Administration
• Publisher: David R. Godine Publisher October 2008
• Publication Date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1567923402
• ISBN 13: 9781567923407
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Used - Like New
• Seller catalogs:
  • Photography - Collections - General

About this title

Synopsis

An essential visual record of American life from the late 1920s to the early 1940s – photographs from the Library of Congress’ Farm Security Administration archive. This collection offers a rare opportunity not only to see historic images but also to understand the working of one of the government’s most original and creative pre-war initiatives.
Guided by master photo editor Roy Stryker, the FSA archive includes the work of dozens of photographers, from acknowledged giants such as Walker Evans, Ben Shahn, and Dorothea Lange to Marion Post Wolcott and Russell Lee, whose names and work may be less familiar. Stryker’s approach was a mix of structure and improvisation. He sent his artists across the country to shoot for a few weeks, mostly in small towns and rural areas. They worked from what Stryker called shooting scripts – laundry lists of possible subjects and situations – but were always free to explore their own perspectives on a locale, its inhabitants, and their activities.
This book collects work from nine of these trips – Evans in Louisana and Alabama, Shahn in West Virginia, Lange in California, and others – uniting them with Stryker’s shooting scripts, letters, and other relevant archival documents. What emerges, beyond the images themselves, is a complex and vital overview of the FSA at work and how the work evolved and matured under Stryker’s guidance. The book concludes with photographs of New Orleans, the only city photographed in depth by the FSA artists.
The Likes of Us includes 175 photographs, reproduced in duotone and printed from the original negatives at the Library of Congress.