{"product_id":"images-of-depression-era-louisiana-the-fsa-photographs-of-ben-shahn-russell-lee-and-marion-post-wolcott-9780807167953","title":"Images of Depression-Era Louisiana: The FSA Photographs of Ben Shahn, Russell Lee, and Marion Post Wolcott","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn the 1930s, the U.S. government famously sent photographers across the country to document on film the need for federal assistance in rural areas. Dorothea Lange's well-known image \u003ci\u003eMigrant Mother\u003c\/i\u003e came from this effort, along with thousands of other photographs. Ben Shahn, Russell Lee, and Marion Post Wolcott contributed to this compelling body of images. As primary photographers for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) in the state of Louisiana, the three took more than 2,600 photographs, recording the modest homes, family gatherings, and working lives of citizens across the state. In \u003ci\u003eImages of Depression-Era Louisiana, \u003c\/i\u003e Bryan Giemza and Maria Hebert-Leiter curate more than 150 of those photographs, offering a riveting collection that captures this pivotal time in Louisiana's history. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The book's stunning photo gallery, with original captions, provides a moving visual tour of Louisiana during a period of economic struggle and transition. Organized by photographer, parish, and date, the revealing images reflect an era when extreme poverty exacerbated the divide between classes and races. Scenes of agricultural and rural communities--families in clapboard houses, sugarcane cutters in the field, and trappers navigating bayous--as well as cityscapes of New Orleans's bustling markets, busy docks, and peaceful Jackson Square demonstrate the scope of the photographers' work and the diversity of conditions and occupations they found. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Giemza and Hebert-Leiter trace the genesis of the FSA Collection, examine its role in promoting the documentary style of picture-taking, and explore the motivations and methods of the collection's head, Roy E. Stryker. They sketch the biographies, techniques, and perspectives of Shahn, Lee, and Wolcott, explaining how the photographers operated in Louisiana from their first experiences to their last days in the state. Letters and other archival documents further illuminate the three artists' impressions of Louisiana, its people, and its traditions.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eBryan Giemza\u003c\/b\u003e is director of the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina Libraries. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eIrish Catholic Writers and the Invention of the American South.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOriginally from Thibodaux, Louisiana, \u003cb\u003eMaria Hebert-Leiter\u003c\/b\u003e teaches at Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. She is the author of \u003ci\u003eBecoming Cajun, Becoming American: The Acadian in American Literature from Longfellow to James Lee Burke.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"LSU Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50328621220114,"sku":"9780807167953","price":33.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_f317a63d-5b48-4512-a531-ed83bc112468.jpg?v=1727745691","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/images-of-depression-era-louisiana-the-fsa-photographs-of-ben-shahn-russell-lee-and-marion-post-wolcott-9780807167953","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}