White girls playing in slum section near Capitol inhabited mostly by Negroes. Note Capitol dome in right background. Washington, D.C.
Poor white hallway, Georgetown, D.C. Seldom do these people have even the desire to clear up rubbish, and the broom shown here seems to be out of place
Slum children at play, Washington, D.C. Children in their backyard near the Capitol. This area inhabited by both black and white
Washington, D.C. Children at play
Children playing in backyard in slum area near capitol. This area inhabited by both white and Negro, Washington, D.C.
Slum children at play, Washington, D.C. Children in their backyard near the Capitol. This area inhabited by both black and white
Children playing on sidewalk, the only available playground. Georgetown, inhabited by both white and Negro, Washington, D.C.
White children playing, Georgetown, Washington, D.C., using the only available playground, the city sidewalk. This section is mixed black and white
Poor children playing on sidewalk, Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
Poor children playing on sidewalk, Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
Poor children playing on sidewalk, Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
Poor children playing on sidewalk, Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
White children playing in Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
Small girls sitting on cellar door, Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
Poor whites, Georgetown, Washington, D.C.:
Small girls sitting in doorway of house in Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
Houses close to Capitol, Washington, D.C. Washington has many such houses but few government workers would care to live in them
Furnished rooms to rent. Typical house which faces government clerk in his search for a home, Washington, D.C.
Front of a typical house offering furnished rooms for rent, District of Columbia
Stairway in rooming house, Washington, D.C.
Boys playing cards near Union Station, Washington, D.C.
Photos by Carl Mydans for U.S. Resettlement Administration, September 1935 (Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, Library of Congress)
6 comments:
The three girls in the scrubby vacant mixed-neighborhood common lot, the foreground shadow, the white temple of power floating in the background, a dream...
When I found that picture, a voice said "you've been here before".
I mean I think I thought I'd seen that temple, those girls, at some earlier date, in presque-vu foreshadow.
That recursive
Instant Roderick
Usher rush
Anticipating
The Fall of the House
The night you move into it
(Not to mention those stairs.)
It seems almost indecent considering the "artistic qualities" of these two series because the story they tell (so well) is so stark and serious. Mydans' individual eye is remarkable, though, and I find myself thinking what it would have been like to stand beside him while he was capturing these, or more accurately, what it would have been like to be in his mind. It's a trivial, but obvious, comment, but these are particularly acute feelings because I spent time yesterday taking mediocre photographs of splendid sights that deserved better. The animal drawings on the side of the page are, as Marco says, really splendid and I always look forward to visiting them. Curtis
Curtis, the artistic qualities, of course, ARE the qualities.
Someone who know photography very well said instantly, of that stairway shot: Atget.
Mydans' great (and richly deserved) reputation a a photojournalist for Life -- his coverage of the bombing of Chungking, his capture and imprisonment in the Philippines and then later China, his subsequent coverage of the Marcos regime, his work in Europe, and then being summoned back personally by MacArthur for the famous wading-in-the-water promised-return photo-op -- perhaps tended to blind people to what a fine artist he was.
Among the original Resettlement Administration crew, all the better known names -- Evans, Lange, Shahn, Rothstein -- bring a self-conscious dramatizing eye to the shot. They always seem to be wanting to stage the history, to make it just that little bit more historical.
With Mydans we see the blight upon the land just as it is, for what it is. Any dramatic enhancement would be redundant.
Speaking of Atget and stairways, you might enjoy seeing the Atget photo found here:
http://acravan.blogspot.com/2011/10/la-chansonette.html
I love how you've described Mydans' talent and achievement in relation to the other artists.
Curtis
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