Reaching the People: The Picture Collection's Farm Security Administration Photographs

Reaching the People: The Picture Collection's Farm Security Administration Photographs



Grandmother from Oklahoma and her pieced quilt. California,
Kern County (1936). Dorothea Lange (1895-1965).

This Dorothea Lange photograph is one of several carefully selected images from the Farm Security Administration series that are reproduced in my new book, Words on Pictures: Romana Javitz and the New York Public Library’s Picture Collection. (Photo|Verso: New York)

Javitz was a close friend and colleague of the head of the FSA’s Historical Section, Roy D. Stryker. Stryker’s mission was to get the photographs of the conditions wrought by the Great Depression out to the public and the Picture Collection was the perfect venue. Not only did over 40,000 photos eventually find their way into the circulating stock, complete exhibitions were also prepared and distributed throughout the NYPL Branches, department stores and other sites. In one instance Stryker assembled a large print exhibit entitled Soil and Erosion specifically for the Picture Collection.

FSA photographs in the Picture Collection would be eventually lent to several important Museum of Modern Art exhibits, including Road to Victory [MoMA Exh. #182, May 21–October 4, 1942], The Family of Man [MoMA Exh. #569, January 24–May 8, 1955] and The Bitter Years: 1935–1941 [MoMA Exh. #711, October 18–November 25, 1962].

An award-winning documentary film made during the Bitter Years exhibit, entitled Years Without Harvest (1963 dir. Lela Swift) made extensive use of the Picture Collection’s FSA photos. Narrated by Ben Shahn with cinematography by Raymond Sipherd it was one of the first to use the zoom and pan technique on still imagery. Today it’s called the Ken Burns effect.

See our Pinterest Page for a curated selection at: 

https://www.pinterest.com/atroncale212/pictures-as-documents-the-new-york-public-library/

Reaching the People: The Picture Collection's Farm Security Administration Photographs

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#wordsonpictures, #RomanaJavitz #newyorkpubliclibrary, picture collection, #photography, #visual arts, #fphototgraphs, visual resources, #branchlibraries, #librarians, #documentaryphotography, art libraries, circulating pictures, theater, performing arts, television, New York Public Library, New York City, Farm Security Administration, Library of Congress, visual literacy, American Model: Origins of the Index of American Design, a Federal Art Project, Ruth Reeves, Holger Cahill, WPAWords on Pictures, #wordsonpictures, Romana Javitz, picture collection, #photography, #visual arts, #photographers, visual resources, #librarians, #documentation, art libraries, art history, theater, New York City, Farm Security Administration, Library of Congress, visual literacy, Sol Libsohn, illustration, advertising, Anthony Troncale, publishing, children's, art, photo, WPA, Federal Art Project, #archives, #specialcollections, #subjectsmatter, #subjective, #photohistory, #historyofphotography, #images, #visual, #visualresources, #WorthBeyondWords, #graphicarts, #posters

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