FSA – Documentary Shooters

1930s, FSA, Journalism

NOT SO BLACK AND WHITE

June 28, 2021 No Comments

Girl at Gee’s Bend, Alabama (April 1937)
by Arthur Rothstein, Library of Congrss

Text by Bruce Berman, Site Editor

“You see the girl — that’s effect one. You see the ad [the blond woman] — that’s effect two. But the third effect is when you see both images together and recognize the irony.” — Arthur Rothstein on the photo

It’s a beautiful photograph, no doubt. Rule of thirds composition. Great light creating great texture. Juxtaposition of the printed rumpled paper against the real person, Black tones versus light tones, i.e., contrast. The slightly diagonal lines and the pattern they create. Textbook rules of composition. But, of overwhelming importance, of course, the implied comment and intention of the photograph.
Arthur Rothstein understood and believed in the power of photography to make social commentary. Working for the United States government, Rothstein photographed Artelia Bendolph in Alabama, to illustrate the effects of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenancy Act of 1937.
Of course -and this is NEVER supposed to be asked when discussing the iconic FSA project- should someone working for the government EVER be allowed to use their words or photographs to “make social commentary?” Isn’t that the realm of commentators in the news industry, i.e., non tax paid?

1930s, Cultural Issues, Documentary Photography

FSA, MINORITIES, AND FAKE NEWS

December 14, 2020 No Comments

Article by Bruce Berman

The Atlantic Monthly just published an article about the FSA (Farm Security Administration) and how minority Americans (African-Americans and Latino Americans) were ignored by the FSA during its four year run.
It’s title is: Whitewashing the Great Depression.
It is factually misinforming.
Four years ago I co-authored (with my colleague Dr. Mary Lamonica) an article titled, “The Photographer as Cultural Outsider.”
It focused on Russell Lee and his 1949 project shot for George I. Sanchez who was the first Latino Dept. Head at UT-Austin and one of the early Civil Rights warriors in LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens). Sanchez had created The Study of the Spanish-Speaking People of Texas project. Lee, of course, was an FSA shooter of great renown and prestige (and later OWI/Office of War Information). He had settled after his WW 2 service in Austin, Texas, the same city as Sanchez’.
Our article was a little more nuanced than the Atlantic piece and delved into the issue of cultural identity of the photographer (or writer or filmmaker) in shaping not only his/her viewpoint but how various ethnic subjects react to a photographer.

June 1938. Outskirts of El Paso, Texas. “Young Negro wife cooking breakfast. ‘Do you suppose I’d be out on the highway cooking my steak if I had it good at home?’ Occupations: hotel maid, cook, laundress.” Medium-format nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the FSA (Farm Security Administration).

American flag, Culture, Texas

ONE NATION

May 28, 2018 No Comments

One Nation. Memorial Day, Fabens, Texas, May 2018

America, Culture, Documentary Photography, Ethics, FSA, Photography That Matters, Photojournalism, The Great Depression

ROTHSTEIN: THE TRUTH ABOUT SKULLS

October 23, 2017 No Comments

Text by Bruce Berman

Arthur Rothstein was hand picked by Director Roy Stryker to be one of the original photographers for the Historical Section of the Resettlement Administration (later the Farm Security Administration/FSA). The unit was birthed to be an explainer for agriculture projects that benefited the agrarian sectors of Depression-ravish America. Rothstein’s “eye” was excellent, his technical skills first rate and he always came back with the goods and then some.

Why doesn’t he get the attention of Dorothea Lange or Walker Evans, or, even, Russell Lee?

Was it the cow skull “controversy?”

Perhaps.

For me this “controversy has always seemed,well… overblown. He moved the skull several times and then, finally, settled on the one we all know.