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Spectator at fire, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, December 1937
Children's drawings on wall, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, April 1937
Street scene, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, November 193
Movie theatre, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, April 1937
Movie poster, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, April 1937
Putting up movie posters at night, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, June 1938
Magazine advertisements, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, April 1938
Girl on lobster, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, April 1938
Negro cafe, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, July-November 1937
Advertisement for bread, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, April 1937
Advertisement for coffee, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, December 1937
Signs, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, April 1937
Shop window, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, April 1938
Drugstore, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, September 1937
Fruit stand, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, April 1938
Tire shop, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, September 1937
Secondhand furniture block, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, August 1938
Children playing, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, April 1937
House in slum district, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, April 1937
Brick house in Northeast Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, September 1937
Children living on the outskirts of Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, September 1937
House on Massachusetts Avenue, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, December 1939
Parking lot, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, April 1938
In front of the public library, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, June 1939
Unemployed youth, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, August 1938
Unemployed youth, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, August 1938
Man reading in restaurant, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, November 1937
Woman knitting, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, 1941
Painters, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, September 1941
Slum area, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, November 1937
Girl in Washington, D.C. slum area: photo by John Vachon, December 1937
Junkyard, Washington, D.C. photo by John Vachon, August 1938
Southwest Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, May 1937
Slums behind Metropolitan Police Department, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, April 1937
Negro church, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, May 1937
Spectator at fire, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, December 1937
Spectators at fire, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, November 1937
Spectators at fire, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, November 1937
Spectators at fire, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, November 1937
Street scene, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, December 1937
Man on the street, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, December 1937
Man with homemade pipe, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, April 1937
Parking lot for government employees, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, July 1939
Parking lot for government employees, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, July 1939
Washington, D.C. Greyhound bus terminal on the day before Christmas. Waiting room: photo by John Vachon, 24 December 1941
Washington, D.C. Greyhound bus terminal on the day before Christmas. Waiting room: photo by John Vachon, 24 December 1941
Airport, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, April 1940
Gas station, Washington, D.C.: photo by John Vachon, July 1937
Photos by John Vachon from Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, Library of Congress
4 comments:
Dear T: These are evocative images indeed. Even though there is now a Starbux on every block in DC, many echoes of these earlier times remain in evidence.
Two cartoon smiles for an opener: the spectator and the chalk scrawl. Funny and highly disturbing.
This is a great series of images, each one perfectly placed.
Wonderful photos, capturing a difficult time. They make me think of an elderly man I met this morning at the grocery store. Patrons were getting antsy because only two lines were open. Shaking his head, he told me, “ I can only laugh. In my ninety years, I’ve seen such a loss of humanity. I grew up poor and never realized it. Now people worry more about affairs than murder. I saw banks fold, and 1935, well….” There he faded off to unload his items onto the belt. I wanted to hear more….He looked much like the old gentleman in the first photo you posted. I loved his leaping conversation, covering a whole realm of those terrible times and today’s insanity: the way our elders stood up and continued on then – the way today’s life seems to spiral out of control.
Many thanks Terry, WB, Marcia.
For a brief account of how John Vachon went on from lowly government clerical work to become among the greatest of American photojournalists -- after the War he created the photographic "look" of the new Look magazine (see sixth photo from top, for a newstand shot of the old version) -- see John Vachon: Scale.
The common peculiar slant angle of view, the ironic distancing with the affection concurrent and yet not contradictory (hard eye, gentle wit, dicriminating expression) -- not to mention of course the location -- seemed close enough to justify following Terence Winch with John Vachon.
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