Russell Lee: Faro and Doris Caudill, homesteaders, Pie Town, New Mexico, 1940 © Library of Congress, Washington DC Bound for Glory: America in Colour 1939 - 1943 Taken over sixty years ago, these colour photographs offer a fresh perspective on one of the most important periods of recent photographic and social history. In 1930s & 40s America one third of the population were "ill clothed, ill housed and ill-fed". Until now the grinding poverty of the time has been epitomised by the iconic black and white images of Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans and others, so these colour images by Marion Post Wolcott, Russell Lee and Jack Delano have an almost shocking immediacy and freshness bringing to life the human cost of the Depression. During this time, photographers were employed by the FSA (Farm Security Administration) to garner support for President Franklin D Roosevelt's New Deal by revealing the poverty of primarily rural America. The initial black and white images were intended to educate the wider population about the problem. Then from 1939 colour photographs were taken to show the improvements the New Deal had made, whilst acknowledging that there was still work to be done. These startling images were made possible by the newly developed Kodachrome colour film. The Depression was eclipsed by the horror of WWII, and the colour FSA images were to remain half forgotten in the Library of Congress. Having been rediscovered, their importance and significance is now beginning to be more widely understood. This exhibition is a unique chance to see them alongside better-known black and white work. Exhibition: 8 December 2006 - 28 January 2007 Gallery hours: Mon-Sat 11 am - 6 pm, Thur 11 am - 6 pm, Sun noon - 6 pm The Photographers' Gallery 5 Great Newport Street UK-London WC2H 7HY Telephone +44 020 7831 1772 Fax +44 020 7836 9704 Email info@photnet.org.uk www.photonet.org.uk |
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