A Staggering Revolution: A Cultural History of Thirties Photography

10. Farm Security Administration Photography in the Aura of Art

10 Farm Security Administration Photography in the Aura of Art Discovering Photography’s Art World When฀it฀was฀established฀in฀mid-฀the฀Historical฀Section฀had฀the฀improvisatory ฀air฀of฀many฀New฀Deal฀initiatives:฀get฀the฀thing฀up฀and฀running฀and฀ then฀figure฀out฀what฀it฀ought฀to฀do.฀From฀the฀welter฀of฀responsibilities฀enumerated ฀in฀its฀charter฀photography฀soon฀emerged฀as฀the฀only฀one฀it฀would฀ pursue.฀Because฀the฀public฀appetite฀for฀photographs฀seemed฀unquenchable฀ and฀of฀their฀reputation฀for฀transparency฀they฀promised฀to฀be฀a฀superior฀vehicle฀ for฀publicizing฀the฀Resettlement฀Administration,฀which,฀whatever฀its฀other฀ uncertainties,฀had฀been฀the฀Section’s฀raison฀d’être฀from฀the฀outset.฀Less฀settled฀ were฀what฀the฀photographers฀ought฀to฀depict฀and฀how฀the฀pictures฀should฀be฀ deployed.฀As฀in฀other฀federal฀photographic฀units฀the฀staff฀would฀be฀expected฀ 168 A Staggering Revolution to฀record฀the฀agency’s฀achievements฀for฀in-house฀publications฀and฀exhibits,฀but฀ almost฀immediately฀a฀more฀expansive฀agenda฀emerged฀as฀photographers฀began฀to฀ make฀far-ranging฀documentary฀pictures฀and฀Stryker฀sought฀wider฀dissemination฀of฀ their฀work.฀In฀its฀earliest฀days,฀though,฀perhaps฀because฀the฀Section’s฀impetus฀was฀ so฀singularly฀instrumental,฀no฀one฀considered฀bringing฀the฀pictures฀forward฀under฀ the฀banner฀of฀artistic฀expression. ฀ By฀฀the฀Section฀began฀to฀exploit฀photography’s฀art฀world฀as฀a฀potential฀outlet.฀ It฀was฀a฀milieu฀of฀which฀Stryker฀knew฀little฀when฀he฀became฀director,฀or฀of฀photography ฀as฀an฀artistic฀discipline฀either,฀although฀Walker฀Evans฀and฀Ben฀Shahn฀strove฀ to฀educate฀him.฀But฀the฀confluence฀of฀two฀otherwise฀disconnected฀events฀in฀the฀ early฀autumn฀of฀—a฀triumph฀and฀a฀threat—revealed฀the฀benefits฀an฀art฀world฀ connection฀could฀provide.฀Among฀the฀Section’s฀earliest฀successes฀with฀a฀national฀ publication฀were฀two฀pictures฀by฀Dorothea฀Lange฀and฀Arnold฀Rothstein฀in฀U.S.฀ Camera฀,฀also฀exhibited฀in฀its฀popular฀traveling฀show.฀These฀venues฀offered฀ considerable฀advantages฀over฀journalistic฀ones:฀better฀production฀values,฀receptivity฀ to฀the฀photographers’฀most฀ambitious฀pictures,฀prominent฀credits฀for฀them฀and฀the฀ Section,฀and฀display฀alongside฀such฀highly฀regarded฀workers฀as฀Berenice฀Abbott,฀ Margaret฀Bourke-White,฀Edward฀Steichen,฀and฀Edward฀Weston.฀Art฀world฀audiences ฀were฀substantial,฀too,฀and฀could฀be฀expected฀to฀give฀the฀photographs฀more฀ respectful฀attention฀than฀newspaper฀readers฀would.฀But฀an฀art฀world฀connection฀also฀ offered฀an฀invaluable฀strategic฀advantage,฀one฀that฀became฀apparent฀in฀the฀weeks฀ around฀Labor฀Day. ฀ About฀the฀time฀U.S.฀Camera฀appeared฀the฀Section฀came฀under฀heavy฀attack฀in฀a฀ controversy฀that฀was฀not฀only฀embarrassing฀but฀also฀potentially฀imperiled฀its฀existence .฀The฀incident฀was฀precipitated฀by฀a฀Rothstein฀shot฀made฀in฀South฀Dakota’s฀ Badlands฀of฀a฀steer’s฀skull฀on฀a฀patch฀of฀parched,฀cracked฀dirt.฀It฀evoked฀the฀deadly฀ effect฀of฀the฀drought฀afflicting฀the฀Great฀Plains฀but฀was฀also฀a฀study฀in฀texture—the฀ polished฀ivory฀skull฀against฀the฀webbed฀earth—and฀a฀still฀life฀resembling฀some฀of฀ Georgia฀O’Keeffe’s.฀Because฀the฀bright฀sun฀caused฀the฀skull฀to฀be฀duplicated฀by฀its฀ shadow,฀the฀image฀was฀also฀a฀witty฀pun฀on฀photography’s฀positive-negative฀technology .฀This฀multiplicity฀made฀it฀a฀fitting฀representative฀of฀the฀Section’s฀documentary฀ work,฀at฀once฀socially฀relevant฀and฀artful. ฀ Its฀multiplicity,฀though,฀provided฀no฀shelter฀from฀the฀storm฀that฀broke฀around฀ it฀in฀late฀August฀฀when฀a฀Fargo฀newspaper฀hostile฀to฀the฀New฀Deal฀ran฀a฀lead฀ story฀claiming฀the฀photograph฀was฀faked.฀Rothstein,฀it฀implied,฀carried฀the฀skull฀as฀ a฀prop,฀and฀a฀patch฀of฀alkaline฀earth฀could฀easily฀be฀discovered,฀even฀in฀rainy฀years,฀ so฀his฀photograph฀was฀no฀more฀than฀a฀bogus฀“wooden฀nickel.”฀The฀story฀broke฀as฀ President฀Roosevelt฀toured฀the฀drought฀states฀on฀his฀way฀to฀Bismarck฀to฀parley฀with฀ a฀federal฀commission฀investigating฀the฀crisis.฀The฀news฀was฀meant฀to฀embarrass฀ 169 FSA Photography in the Aura of Art him฀and฀discredit฀the฀New฀Deal’s฀initiatives฀as฀no฀more฀than฀partisan฀expedients฀ that฀its฀propaganda฀tried฀to฀legitimize.1 ฀ Newspapers฀hostile฀to฀the฀administration฀pounced฀on฀the฀story,฀and฀the฀next฀ month฀saw฀many฀more฀condemnations.฀The฀Chicago฀Tribune฀and฀New฀York฀Herald ฀Tribune฀uncovered฀the฀fact฀that฀Rothstein฀had฀also฀photographed฀the฀skull฀on฀a฀ grassy฀slope,฀arguing฀that฀versions฀with฀such฀differing฀connotations฀were฀irrefutable฀ evidence฀of฀a฀propagandistic฀deceit฀designed฀to฀bolster฀the฀New฀Deal’s฀fortunes.฀ The฀Columbus฀Dispatch฀editorialized฀that฀it฀“was฀a฀shabby฀trick,฀even฀for฀New฀Deal฀ propaganda฀methods฀which฀have฀never...