We have a situation. This recently acquired photograph is very quickly becoming one of our favorites. We have always made great efforts to be as accurate as possible in our caption information, and we have always encouraged our viewers to contact us if information presented is incorrect. According to our information this photograph that we call “Dreamers” (no relation to the Dream Act) was taken in New Jersey in 1947.
Photojournalists, this is clearly directed at you! Henri Cartier-Bresson coined the phrase “the decisive moment” as to mean the precise moment to trip the shutter in order to capture the essence of a scene. This photo, “Santa Cruz Flood”; Santa Cruz, California (February 9, 1941) would be representative of Cartier-Bresson’s argument.
The proposed border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border has been envisioned as being 30 feet high, impossible for one individual to scale without aid, 6 feet in depth under ground, impenetrable for up to one hour by attempts to brake through and aesthetically beautiful on the U. S. side. I refer you to some statistics on the Great Wall of China presented in this blog.
I must admit to my ignorance. I have argued for some time of the necessity for the completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) as a part of the solution for the United States to become less dependent on sources of oil from OPEC. Job creation was a secondary issue. The impact of the routing of the pipeline so close to the Lakota Standing Rock reservation is unacceptable.
Distended stomachs on children are a sure sign of malnutrition. Date is approximate; true date unknown.
Immigration reform? Let’s get serious. As long as conditions of poverty exist as illustrated in these photos taken in Honduras and Haiti c.1939 what would you do if you had to live under these conditions? The worldwide refugee problem is another issue involving civil wars and forcing people to flee by land and sea to safety.
Never know what you might see on the beach. The beach at Far Rockaway, Queens, New York finds “Gypsy Woman” c.1909. “The gypsy woman told my mother, Before I was born, I got a boy child’s comin’, He’s gonna be a son of a gun….” — “Hoochie Choochie Man” — Muddy Waters. Somehow I think that Muddy would have approved.
There is a great line in the film “Fracture” from Anthony Hopkins which is just one of many. He says that sometimes life gives you these little gifts. You have to see the film to understand the relevance of the statement, but we have recently acquired this photo of two hunters in a swamp. They are probably just looking for gators. However, in these times such a scene takes on new meaning.
Known officially as “domestic dependent nations” the federally recognized American Indian Nations have been confined to reservations which contain the least productive lands in the United States. Not all American Indians live on reservations to be sure, but those that do endure hardships unknown to most Americans. Our American Indian Nations collection provides an insight into the lives of these people unknown to most outsiders. We are fortunate to add “Old Indian Woman” c.1955 to our collection as presented in this blog. This photo is a testament to the people living under the poorest of conditions and their will to survive.
A rare, iconic image from the Great Depression, “Unemployed Men“, never before published. We assess with a high degree of probability that this photo was taken in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania c.1937.