March 23, 2010 “Fields of Vision” Series Features 20th-Century Photographers

Selected images from the works of Farm Security Administration (FSA)/Office of War Information (OWI) photographers Esther Bubley (1921-1998), Jack Delano (1914-1997) and John Vachon (1914-1975) are now featured in the Library of Congress series titled “Fields of Vision.”

These new titles join the first three volumes in the series, which feature the work of FSA/OWI photographers Russell Lee (1903-1987), Ben Shahn (1898-1969) and Marion Post Wolcott (1910-1990). Edited by Amy Pastan, an independent editor and book packager, and published by D Giles Ltd. in association with the Library of Congress, each volume in the series includes an introduction to the work of the featured FSA photographer by a leading author.

The more than 172,000 black-and-white and 1,600 color images that comprise the FSA-OWI Collection at the Library of Congress offer a detailed portrait of life in the United States from the years of the Great Depression through World War II. Capturing people in both rural and urban regions of the country involved in the rhythms of daily life, the photographs allow viewers to connect personally with the 1930s and 1940s. The government documentary project, headed by Roy L. Stryker, employed many relatively unknown names who later became some of the 20th century’s best-known photographers. Each volume in the “Fields of Vision” series presents 50 striking images by one such photographer that demonstrates how his or her vision helped shape the collective identity of America. In lively and insightful prose, three authors discuss the lives and work of these photographers.

Melissa Fay Greene, who wrote the introduction to the volume on Esther Bubley, is the author of “Praying for Sheetrock,” “The Temple Bombing” and “Last Man Out.” Greene is a two-time finalist for the National Book Award who has written for The New Yorker, Life, The Washington Post, Newsweek and Redbook. Novelist Kurt Andersen, who introduces John Vachon, has written for New York magazine, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and Time. The author of works for television, stage and screen, Andersen is the host and co-creator of the Peabody Award-winning public radio show “Studio 360.” The author of several memoirs, including “When I Was Puerto Rican,” Esmeralda Santiago has written the introduction to the volume on Jack Delano. Her essays and opinion pieces have appeared in national newspapers and magazines and have won numerous awards for excellence in documentary filmmaking.

Each 63-page soft-cover volume in the series is available for $12.95 in bookstores throughout the U.S. and the UK, from D Giles Ltd. and the Library of Congress Sales Shop, Washington, D.C., 20540-4985. Credit card orders are taken at (888) 682-3557, or shop on the Internet at www.loc.gov/shop. Reproduction numbers are provided in the books so that reprints may be ordered through the Library’s Photoduplication Service.

Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution. The Library seeks to spark imagination and creativity and to further human understanding and wisdom by providing access to knowledge through its magnificent collections, programs and exhibitions. Many of the Library’s rich resources can be accessed through its website at www.loc.gov and via interactive exhibitions on a personalized website at myLOC.gov.

The Library’s Prints and Photographs Division houses more than 14 million visual materials. More than 1 million digitized images are accessible on the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog at www.loc.gov/rr/print/catalog.html. These include the more than 172,000 images that comprise the FSA/OWI Collection (lcweb2.loc.gov/pp/fsacabt.html).

The collection’s 1,600 color images are also accessible through the online photo management and sharing application known as FLICKR, at www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/sets/72157603671370361.