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Fsa: The American Vision Hardcover – October 1, 2006
Purchase options and add-ons
- Print length360 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publisher"Harry N. Abrams, Inc."
- Publication dateOctober 1, 2006
- Grade level8 and up
- Reading age13 years and up
- Dimensions9.88 x 1.25 x 12.38 inches
- ISBN-100810954974
- ISBN-13978-0810954977
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About the Author
Gilles Mora is the author of Abrams Walker Evans: The Hungry Eye and Edward Weston: Forms of Passion, among many other books. A curator and historian of photography, he is one of the worlds leading experts on 20th-century American photography. He lives in Paris.
Product details
- Publisher : "Harry N. Abrams, Inc."; First Edition (October 1, 2006)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 360 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0810954974
- ISBN-13 : 978-0810954977
- Reading age : 13 years and up
- Grade level : 8 and up
- Item Weight : 10.6 ounces
- Dimensions : 9.88 x 1.25 x 12.38 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #3,745,353 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,372 in Photojournalism (Books)
- #8,759 in Photograpy Equipment & Techniques
- #139,616 in United States History (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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Stryker's vision revealed
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2008I bought this to have a permanent, nicely bound book of historic photos of the United States and I was not disappointed. Straight from government archives, these are photos from government-employed photographers who were assigned to go out in the Depression era and photograph what they saw. Today, we should be grateful someone had the foresight to do this. The photos are disturbing, beautiful, stark and moving. What happened to these people and families? Like the photos, so much dust now...but recorded forever. A brilliant book.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2013I always admired the work of the FSA photographers, and this book provides excellent reviews of the individuals themselves.
Thank you.
- Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2007This book have done a great job by putting this all together by project/Date base and indicating where they went. It has answered alot of my questions on the FSA photographers.
I am pleased the book used mostly unknown photographs.
I have already raving about this book
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Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2007Un libro fundamental para entender una parte importante de la fotografía norteamericana.
- Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2016"FSA: The American Vision", by Gilles Mora and Beverly W. Brannan, successfully gives the viewer an inside look into, "The United States Farm Security Administration's, (FSA)" plight to reveal to the American public the poverty ridden conditions befaced by the disenfranchised during the Great Depression.
From 1935-1943, this documentary project helped launch the careers of many legendary photographers; (Gordon Parks, Dorothea Lange, Ben Shahn, and Walker Evans), just to name a few. Under Roy Stryker' guidance, they collectively produced over 165,000
black- and- white film negatives of ordinary Americans and their fight to meet their daily basic needs.
Within the pages of this book, are 470 beautifully printed reproductions of these images of cultural and economic uncertainty. If not careful, one can easily misinterpret them as works of art rather than the truth of a generation's fight for survival.
The book is well presented with an excellent layout. I am impressed with the editors decision to give each of the sixteen photographers a chapter describing their experiences accompanied by some of the images they captured. The lenses of their cameras did not discriminate. Whether Black or White, young or old, urban or rural, they successfully captured this historically significant era in American history.
My only gripe is that Whites are more heavily represented than Blacks, which was the norm during this era. Had the images been equally or more closely divided, I believe the book would have been even more than it is.
If interested in great pictorial representation of American life during, "The Great Depression", one need look no further than FSA: :The American vision by Mora and Brannon. It is a purchase I am certain you will enjoy thoroughly.
Respectfully,
Jamusu.
- Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2006A worthy addition to a very small number of books that present a general selection of Farm Security Administration photos in an art book format. To my mind there are only three others, In this proud land: America, 1935-1943, as seen in the FSA photographs, A Vision Shared: A Classic Portrait of America and Its People, 1935-1943, (the only sumptuous large book production of the three) and Long Time Coming: A Photographic Portrait of America, 1935-1943. 'FSA' easily joins this list with 470 beautifully printed photos on quality paper with an impressive 250+ dpi screen and a unique and interesting editorial format.
Each of the sixteen FSA/OWI photographers gets a chapter that is divided into two parts. Firstly there is a selection of photos covering a single subject, usually between thirteen and twenty-five photos, though John Collier gets an impressive thirty-four of his work in the Pennsylvania coal industry, followed by a general selection of that photographer's work of between four and twelve images. I thought the single theme idea worked well, you can see how Walker Evens seemed to search out monuments and his love of typographic signs or Jack Delano and Russell Lee's interest in people doing ordinary jobs. Esther Bubley has a fascinating twenty-four shots taken on Greyhound bus trips in 1943. Each photographer's gallery selection is a mix of their well-known work and others, some published here for the first time.
The two authors contribute interesting essays, Brannan explains the overall idea of Stryker's vision and Mora writes about the creative aspects of the photographs. The back of the book has a useful chronology and bibliography for each photographer.
'FSA' is a beautiful book of content rich photos but I was rather disappointed with the over generous amount of white space on many pages. So many of these photos are landscape and would suit that book format which is why I think Michael Lesy's 'Long Time Coming' was so successful. It has slightly less photos than 'FSA' but they are bigger and presented in the more appropriate format. The captions also, in 'FSA', are printed on a separate page following each photo selection when they clearly should be on each relevant photo page (when will book designers get this right!). Despite these reservations and as I said earlier, 'FSA' is a wonderful addition to the published photo archive of America's Depression and early war years.
5.0 out of 5 starsA worthy addition to a very small number of books that present a general selection of Farm Security Administration photos in an art book format. To my mind there are only three others, In this proud land: America, 1935-1943, as seen in the FSA photographs, A Vision Shared: A Classic Portrait of America and Its People, 1935-1943, (the only sumptuous large book production of the three) and Long Time Coming: A Photographic Portrait of America, 1935-1943. 'FSA' easily joins this list with 470 beautifully printed photos on quality paper with an impressive 250+ dpi screen and a unique and interesting editorial format.Stryker's vision revealed
Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2006
Each of the sixteen FSA/OWI photographers gets a chapter that is divided into two parts. Firstly there is a selection of photos covering a single subject, usually between thirteen and twenty-five photos, though John Collier gets an impressive thirty-four of his work in the Pennsylvania coal industry, followed by a general selection of that photographer's work of between four and twelve images. I thought the single theme idea worked well, you can see how Walker Evens seemed to search out monuments and his love of typographic signs or Jack Delano and Russell Lee's interest in people doing ordinary jobs. Esther Bubley has a fascinating twenty-four shots taken on Greyhound bus trips in 1943. Each photographer's gallery selection is a mix of their well-known work and others, some published here for the first time.
The two authors contribute interesting essays, Brannan explains the overall idea of Stryker's vision and Mora writes about the creative aspects of the photographs. The back of the book has a useful chronology and bibliography for each photographer.
'FSA' is a beautiful book of content rich photos but I was rather disappointed with the over generous amount of white space on many pages. So many of these photos are landscape and would suit that book format which is why I think Michael Lesy's 'Long Time Coming' was so successful. It has slightly less photos than 'FSA' but they are bigger and presented in the more appropriate format. The captions also, in 'FSA', are printed on a separate page following each photo selection when they clearly should be on each relevant photo page (when will book designers get this right!). Despite these reservations and as I said earlier, 'FSA' is a wonderful addition to the published photo archive of America's Depression and early war years.
Images in this review
- Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2007Sure their vision was a bit romantic, but anyone who appreciates what the FSA photographers, under Roy Stryker's direction, did will also appreciate this book. Never before and never since then (pace, Robert Frank) has the country sat for its portrait. It would have been nice to have the numbers in the Smithsonian's Prints and Photographs Department, where the pictures are kept. The nation may have sat for its portrait, but the pictures belong to you.
Top reviews from other countries
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Cliente AmazonReviewed in Italy on December 15, 2015
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastico
Testi fantastico non solo per le immagini di grande impatto e importanza nel panorama della fotografia documentaria, ma anche per i testi che lo rendono un libro completo e imperdibile!
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dukeofwelliReviewed in France on December 26, 2014
5.0 out of 5 stars Une époque, des photographes !!!
Magnifique livre !
Des années noires, d'un côté, la misère conséquence de la Grande Dépression, de l'autre, une bureaucratie surabondante. Au milieu des photographes à qui cette administration va demander des images des fermiers américains. Livre magnifique, superbes images (même si le sujet principal en est le malheur des uns).
Une révélation : "First Rural Rehabilitation Colonists May 1, 1935" l'album photographique de Dorothea Lange. Dorothea Lange a su si bien rendre leur dignité et leur grandeur aux femmes et aux hommes qu'elle a côtoyés.
FSA vient de Farm Security Administration