Government’s Flickr: Library of Congress
Every once and awhile, I hear someone understandably questioning what we get for all the taxes that U.S. citizens pay (for those of you reading outside the United States, sorry for not writing to you). Any time I run across a government service, I always assume that my taxes have paid for a big chunk of whatever it is. And I’m happy to say, most of the time as delusional as I may be, that thought makes me feel just fine.
Look at the following picture:
It’s a June 1935 photo titled “Bill Tatnall, half-length portrait, seated, facing left, playing guitar, Frederica, Georgia” that is part of a group of photos taken by Alan Lomax “during [a] Lomax-Hurston-Barnicle recording expedition to Georgia, Florida, and the Bahamas” This photo appears as part of the Library of Congress Alan Lomax collection, as described in the following manner:
“The collection includes 400 snapshot photographs made in the course of sound recording expeditions carried out by John Avery Lomax, Alan Lomax, and Ruby Terrill Lomax, between 1934 and ca. 1950 for the Archive of American Folk-Song. The photographs, which were transferred to the Prints and Photographs Division from the Archive of American Folk-Song in 1950, depict African American, Mexican American, and white musicians, singers and dancers, primarily in the southern United States (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia) and the Bahamas (Nassau, Andros Island, and Cat Island). In addition to posed portraits, the images show musicians performing in various settings: at home, in concert, and while performing prison labor outdoors. Views of children engaged in singing games, scenes of daily life, and some landscape views are also included. Folklorist Zora Neale Hurston, who assisted the Lomaxes on expeditions to Georgia and Florida, has been identified in a few photographs.”
And this is just one collection. I actually was reminded of the Library of Congress recently when I ran across the insitution’s Flickr account. While its Flickr account is of interest, there’s a great deal more to be found at the library’s own Prints & Photographs Online Catalog. In that website alone, you have access to more than 50 different online photography collections, including:
- Ansel Adams’s Manzanar War Relocation Center Work
- U.S. Farm Security Administration (FSA)/Office of War Information (OWI) 1939-1944 Color Photos
- The Look Magazine Photograph Collection
I could spend hours looking at these vast archives and never get bored. Take a look, you’ll get your money’s worth, I like to think.
Tags: photography