Photographs of Arthur Rothstein: the Library of Congress

Following on from the publication of the first six titles featuring The Library of Congress' internationally renowned collection of Farm Security Administration (FSA) and Office of War Information (OWI) photographs, the 'Fields of Vision' series continues with images showcasing the work of Arthur Rothstein, Gordon Parks and Carl Mydans. Providing a unique view of American life during the Great Depression and Second World War, each 'Fields of Vision' volume includes an introduction to the life of the photographer by a leading author or journalist, and 50 evocative images selected from their work. Transporting the viewer to American homes, farms and streets in the 1930s and 1940s, they also offer a glimpse of a new narrative and intimate style that was later to blossom on the pages of LOOK and LIFE magazines. For many Americans of the pre-television age, the diversity and complexity of their country was defined by the lenses of these men and women. Arthur Rothstein was born in New York in 1915. In the early 1930s he attended Columbia University, where he studied with Roy Stryker, who later hired him at the FSA.
During his five years as an FSA photographer, Rothstein produced a gripping visual record of the country's poor that included Virginia farmers, the Dust Bowl, cattle ranchers in Montana, and a tenant community in Gee's Bend, Alabama. After World War II he joined LOOK magazine, serving as director of photography until the magazine ceased production in 1971. He died in 1985.