The Library of Congress has released a series of color photographs from the Great Depression that were part of its 2006 Bound for Glory exhibit. They are nothing short of spectacular. These are my favorites.
The photographers were working for the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information.
The LOC offered this description of the original project:
The photographs in Bound for Glory, many by famed photographers such as John Vachon, Jack Delano, Russell Lee, and Marion Post Wolcott, document not only the subjects in the pictures, but also the dawn of a new era — the Kodachrome era. These colorful images mark a historic divide in visual presentation between the monochrome world of the pre-modern age and the brilliant hues of the present. They change the way we look — and think about — our past.
I do trust all of the concepts you’ve offered in your post. They are really convincing and can certainly work. Nonetheless, the posts are very short for beginners. Could you please lengthen them a bit from next time? Thank you for the post.
I just couldn’t help it, but Arlo Gutherie’s Last Train comes to mind when I read this story.
Please forgive. Don’t know how to embed video.
Last Train
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFA0rg6rX_c
Also, not my favorite Arlo rendition of this song…but ya gets what ya get from YouTube.com
somebody call the grouper troopers, those two kids in the bottom picture don’t look like they have fishing licenses.
A lot of people do not know that Eudora Welty started out as a photographer during the depression. It was later that she turned to writing. A wonderful and dignified lady. She used to shop down at the Winn-Dixie supermarket near her home in the Belhaven area of Jackson, MS. My gosh, what a storyteller! She could tell brilliant stories with both a camera and a pen.
She has published a couple of books of her depression era photography. The best is probably “Eudora Welty: Photographs.” It is available from several online book vendors.
Very cool …
Blouise,
The Dorthea Lange video is very good, as well…
I’m off to tour the on-line exhibition items … thank you.
They probably also have early color photos of lynchings in the U.S. and maybe some of the death camps in Poland.
Fabulous photos… And what AY said… that smart little elf…
I find myself saying, if only… and asking how we can still turn this thing around. I fear for those we’ll leave behind…
Anyway, the photos did it… made me ramble…
These photos brought back many memories, some good, some bittersweet. The first photo of the locomotive being steam cleaned is my favorite. I have seen that done many times. I used to go down to the roundhouse with my father. He worked for the railroad and I had unlimited access to the shop and railyard. That access would be impossible in these days of insurance and OSHA regulations.
Thanks for linking to this gallery. I see what I will be doing for a while today.
I’d like to know the story on those tankers. If this really is pre-WWII there has to be a story there.
I remember going downtown as a boy & all of the men, and most of the women, were wearing hats. I remember them as all being dull brown & I guess that isn’t just a trick time played on my memory.
I think they are all nice…the last is the best…It represents hope at its best….