The United States Library of Congress put up thousands of archival pictures from the Great Depression to World War II on Flickr today. A classic collection of photos, they capture in full color an era generally seen and imagined in black-and-white.
The photographs convey a more innocent time when a country did not have to mount multi-million dollar campaigns to elect a president. These photos are in public domain and have no known copyright restrictions. The flickr library here.
Jack Whinery and his family, homesteaders, Pie Town, New Mexico, Sept 1940, Photographed by Russell Lee
Whoa. What a photo. The perspectives seem off…the room seems too sharply angled as if the walls are being drawn in. Thus the congestion of the family.
But its the window out that is most hard to reconcile. Its looks like either a hole in the wall or the photo…opening out into a scene of a wholly different style.
You’re right,McFawn, it feels very off-kilter. Perhaps partly due to a wide-angle lens, as well as the odd angles of people and things hanging on the wall.
Sunil, any reason you happened to pick this one out of so many? I do like the reminder that there was already color photography then. According to Calvin’s Dad, that came about in the 1930’s (see his explanation here).
It looks like this is just a pilot for now. More images are available directly from the LOC.
Last night, the picture reminded me of Russell Baker’s ‘Growing up’.
Looking at it this morning, I am impressed at how well-groomed the Whinery family is, homesteading at a place named for dried apple pie in Pueblo country. Look at the dugout houses people lived in.
I admire Pueblo culture and I am a big fan of New Mexico. My previous post was only to express my admiration for folks from the depression era making a new start in a strange country.
Birgit,
Early group or family photos, even those “snapshots” were almost always attempts to show what good shape the family was in. I’m sure these people are dressed in the Sunday best — but note the father’s trousers and the patches on the boy’s pants.
The wide angle lense would account for the closing in property of the photo — but I like it for its emotional effect. It’s possible that the family gathered a lot of its material goods (a poster, a painting) together to show it off — as well as the window, which might have been a prized element of the household. Dugout houses had no windows, generally speaking.
I always find these old photos with their evidence of lives come and gone very poignant. Thanks, Sunil.
June,
Thanks for mentioning that the window, shown here, is a luxury.