Text by Bruce Berman, Editor

In 1936 John Vachon was a “late” FSA photographer. His original job was to catalog other photographer’s images. He was, at 21,  a “filing clerk,” for the FSA library and had little intention of being a photographer. He needed a job.

By 1937, Vachon had become completely familiar with the FSA, its Director, Roy Stryker and the works of the of the FSA photographers.

He wanted in!

The NBC Control Room in NYC, 1936

(photographer unknown)

Article by Bruce Berman

What did Russell Lee do when he was on the road? His notes indicate that he did a lot of thinking about what he had shot at the last stop and what he needed to shoot at the next stop. However, in the thousands of miles that he logged in for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) he must have found “blank spaces” in his travels, times when he was bored with the road, even the job and its mission.