Arthur rothstein photographs
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Biography
Born in New York City in 1915, Arthur Rothstein showed an early interest in photography. While studying at Columbia University, he met economics instructor Roy Stryker, who would later establish the photographic section of the Resettlement Administration (later the Farm Security Administration) in Washington, DC. Appreciating Rothstein's technical proficiency and enthusiasm for photography, Stryker hired him in 1935 as the first staff photographer for the FSA. Praised for the directness and immediacy of his imagery, Rothstein produced notable photographic series on farming communities in the Midwestern Dust Bowl. After leaving the FSA in 1940, Rothstein took a position as photographer for Look magazine; he remained there until 1971, ultimately serving as the magazine's director of photography.
Phillips, Christopher, and Vanessa Rocco, eds. Modernist Photography: Selections from the Daniel Cowin Collection. New York: International Center of Photography and Göttingen,
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Arthur Rothstein
Darrel Coble is the youngest boy pictured in Fleeing a Dust Storm, the boy who was directed by Rothstein to cover his eyes with his arm. Ganzel photographed Coble, in his home, still in Cimerron County, Oklahoma, in September 1977 when he was 44 years old. Hanging on the wall behind Coble is a reproduction of the image that Rothstein took when Coble was only three years old and living through the Great Depression. Coble never moved out of Cimerron County and lived there until he passed away in 1979, at age 46. “I don’t really know why I like living here,” Coble said to Ganzel in his 1977 interview. “It’s just home I guess.”
For more information on Dust Bowl Descent, visit Ganzel’s website: http://www.ganzelgroup.com/books.html
Steer Skull, Badlands, South Dakota
Another image that is iconic of the Great Depression is Rothstein’s Steer Skull, Badlands, South Dakota, taken in May 1936. Rothstein was 22 when h
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Gallery
Introduction
President Franklin D. Roosevelt initiated dozens of bold and creative programs immediately after his inauguration in March 1933. beneath the banner of a “New Deal for the American people” he used executive orders, sweeping legislation, and new federal agencies to boost employment and curb the disastrous financial practices that had led to the Great nedstämdhet. His goal was to restore both the economy and the spirit of the nation through “relief, recovery and reform.”
The Roosevelt administration deployed enormous resources to alleviate unemployment in urban areas, mitigate severe rural poverty, and repair the vast drought-stricken regions of the Great Plains. In April 1935 FDR signed an executive beställning creating the Resettlement ledning, a large-scale experiment to create new rural and suburban communities and restore millions of acres of ravaged farm and pasture lands. It would be renamed the Farm säkerhet Administration (FSA) in 1937.
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