Bound for Glory, America in color: 1939-1943
30 Jun - 07 Sep 2006
Bound for Glory, America in color: 1939-1943
30 June - 7 September 2006
It was in the United States, in the late 1930s, that without doubt the largest and most significant documentary project in the history of photography took place. Ten photographers worked for eight years to record the appalling conditions under which the rural population lived during the economic crisis of the Great Depression. They were commissioned by the Farmer Security Administration (FSA), a government department set up specially to rehouse impoverished farmers. This project resulted in more than 160,000 pictures currently kept at the Library of Congress in Washington. These include classic icons of photographic history such as ‘Migrant Mother’ by Dorothea Lange and work by Walker Evans. A less well known fact is that from 1939 a number of photographers also worked in colour. This resulted in some unique pictures of extremely high quality that represent an important addition to the black-and-white material. This work was recently catalogued and is now being exhibited for the first time in Europe.
Foam is the first to present an exceptional selection of these colour photos in combination with several famous black-and-white pictures. The show was compiled in close cooperation with the Library of Congress. Foam is also the official representative of the Library of Congress for this unique exhibition in Europe.
© Russel Lee, ‘Jack Whinery, homesteader, and his family, Pie Town, New Mexico, 1940’ © Library of Congres, Washington
30 June - 7 September 2006
It was in the United States, in the late 1930s, that without doubt the largest and most significant documentary project in the history of photography took place. Ten photographers worked for eight years to record the appalling conditions under which the rural population lived during the economic crisis of the Great Depression. They were commissioned by the Farmer Security Administration (FSA), a government department set up specially to rehouse impoverished farmers. This project resulted in more than 160,000 pictures currently kept at the Library of Congress in Washington. These include classic icons of photographic history such as ‘Migrant Mother’ by Dorothea Lange and work by Walker Evans. A less well known fact is that from 1939 a number of photographers also worked in colour. This resulted in some unique pictures of extremely high quality that represent an important addition to the black-and-white material. This work was recently catalogued and is now being exhibited for the first time in Europe.
Foam is the first to present an exceptional selection of these colour photos in combination with several famous black-and-white pictures. The show was compiled in close cooperation with the Library of Congress. Foam is also the official representative of the Library of Congress for this unique exhibition in Europe.
© Russel Lee, ‘Jack Whinery, homesteader, and his family, Pie Town, New Mexico, 1940’ © Library of Congres, Washington