As photography flourished between the world wars, women were among the vanguard that aligned modernist principles with social objectives. In the United States, the Federal Art Project (FAP) (1935–39) of the Works Progress Administration provided financial support to artists by commissioning work. The Farm Security Administration (FSA), directed by Roy Stryker, used photography to document the plight of Americans devastated by the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl in the 1930s. Distributed via newspapers, magazines, books, and exhibitions, images from government programs bore witness to tumultuous times. The legacy of these women can be seen in the work of photographers who continue to chronicle people and events worldwide.
Photography is a method of education, for acquainting people of all ages and conditions with the truth about life today.
Bank of America Collection
Marion Post Wolcott (American, 1910–1990)
Vegetable pickers, migrants, waiting after work to be paid. Near Homestead, Florida
1939
Gelatin silver prints
Bank of America Collection
Wolcott produced more than 9,000 photographs for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) from 1938 to 1942. Like fellow FSA-photographer Dorothea Lange, she received commissions to record the struggles of everyday people, primarily those in rural areas, during the Great Depression.
Bank of America Collection
Marion Post Wolcott (American, 1910–1990)
Coal miner’s child taking home kerosene for lamps. Company houses, coal tipple in background. Pursglove, Scotts Run, West Virginia
1938
Gelatin silver print
Bank of America Collection
Wolcott produced more than 9,000 photographs for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) from 1938 to 1942. Like fellow FSA-photographer Dorothea Lange, she received commissions to record the struggles of everyday people, primarily those in rural areas, during the Great Depression.
Bank of America Collection
Berenice Abbott/Masters/Getty Images
Berenice Abbott (American, 1898–1991)
Night View, New York
1932
Gelatin silver print
Bank of America Collection
Berenice Abbott/Masters/Getty Images
For this iconic image, Abbott photographed Manhattan from a perch high on the then-new Empire State Building. Capturing the skyscrapers fully lit required a fifteen-minute exposure and demanded precise timing for success. Late December was the only time of year when it was dark enough to complete the exposure between sunset and lights-out for office workers at 5 p.m.
Bank of America Collection
Berenice Abbott (American, 1898–1991)
Court of the First Model Tenements in New York City, 361–365 East 71st Street
1936
Gelatin silver print
Bank of America Collection
Abbott wanted her Changing New York project, funded by the Federal Arts Project, to reveal “the past jostling with the present.” The visual complexity of the intersecting laundry lines in this tenement courtyard appealed to Abbott’s modern eye. The play of diagonals energizes the scene and mirrors the geometry in her photograph of the George Washington Bridge.
Bank of America Collection
Berenice Abbott (American, 1898–1991)
George Washington Bridge I, Riverside Drive and West 179th Street
1936
Gelatin silver print
Bank of America Collection
Bank of America Collection
© 2022 Nikki S. Lee
Nikki S. Lee (Korean, born 1970)
The Hispanic Project (18)
1998
Chromogenic print
Bank of America Collection
© 2022 Nikki S. Lee
From 1997 to 2001, Lee immersed herself in a range of subcultures, or communities, including tourists, skateboarders, and residents of a Hispanic neighborhood. Identifying herself as an artist, Lee spent months with her new acquaintances and documented their interactions by handing her point-and-shoot camera to others in the group. The resulting snapshots demonstrate how Lee altered her appearance to blend into each group and reflect her belief that social identity is changeable.
Bank of America Collection
© Meridel Rubenstein
Meridel Rubenstein (American, born 1948)
Donaldo Valdez with Teresa Martinez, ’49 Chevy, El Guique, New Mexico
1980
Chromogenic print
Bank of America Collection
© Meridel Rubenstein
In 1979, Rubenstein began a photographic series documenting northern New Mexico’s lowrider car culture. Lowrider owners personalize their vintage cars with sleek custom paint jobs, lavish interiors, and hydraulic suspensions that allow the vehicles to ride extremely low to the ground. Rubenstein feels an affinity for lowrider artists and acknowledges their influence on her own creative process.
Modern Women/Modern Vision: Works from the Bank of America Collection has been loaned through the Bank of America Art in our Communities® program. This exhibition is presented with generous support from the donors to the Annual Fund Leadership Campaign and the residents who support the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD). Promotional support is provided by 5280 Magazine and CBS4.
