February 28, 2021 Biography Brings Life of Photographer Russell Lee Out of the Shadows, Drawing on Library’s Photography Archive

His photographs are mainstays in popular culture: The iconic shot of a young Black man drinking from a water cooler marked “colored” was featured in Stephen Colbert’s June 1, 2020, “Late Show” monologue on racial injustice. Millions of “Cheers” viewers saw his photo of cheerful patrons in a Depression-era Minnesota saloon in the opening credits. Microsoft offered his 1939 photo of a Texas couple as a screensaver in its Windows 98 operating system.

While Russell Lee’s work is widely known, his story has remained more elusive. A new definitive biography, published by Liveright in association with the Library of Congress, establishes Lee as one of the most influential documentary photographers in American history.

In “Russell Lee: A Photographer’s Life and Legacy,” historian and archivist Mary Jane Appel examines the paradoxes of Lee’s dual status as an independently wealthy man and the most prolific photographer of the Great Depression.

Of the 63,000 prints in the Library’s Farm Security Administration (FSA) Collection, which pictures American life between 1935 and 1942, Russell Lee created 19,000 — more than twice the amount of any other FSA photographer. He was the longest tenured and most widely traveled of all the photographers on the legendary FSA team — which included Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans. Living out of his car, Lee photographed life in 29 states between 1936 and 1942.

The more than 100 photos included in the biography demonstrate Lee’s talent for capturing images emblematic of early 20th century concerns, including the ecological catastrophes of dust storms and floods, the population shift from rural to urban areas, discrimination against racial and ethnic groups, and life on the home front during World War II.  

This first comprehensive biography of Lee reveals a man both compelling and complex, a wealthy White man whose focus on society’s ills resulted in a body of work that continues to be recognized for its resonance and relevance.

The book is available for purchase in hardcover and e-book formats from booksellers worldwide. Hardcovers are available for purchase from the Library of Congress Shop at library-of-congress-shop.myshopify.com/.

“Russell Lee: A Photographer’s Life and Legacy”
Mary Jane Appel
Liveright, in association with the Library of Congress
On sale: March 2, 2021
384 pp., 117 photographs
Hardcover, 9781631496165, $40.00
e-Book, 9781631496172, $34.98

About the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States, and extensive materials from around the world, both on-site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections, reference services, and other programs and plan a visit at loc.gov, access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at congress.gov, and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.

About Liveright
Liveright Publishing Corporation grew out of the storied Boni & Liveright press, one of the most important publishers of the early 20th century. Under the guidance of Horace Liveright, the firm captured the flowering literature of the 1920s and 1930s, publishing some of the most celebrated American writers of the period. In 2012, W. W. Norton & Company relaunched the storied imprint, producing works which have once again secured Liveright as a preeminent publisher of the finest literature.