He used his documentary work as a way to teach others about life; how people live, work, and play, the social structures that people are a part of, and the environments in which they live in.
Dated 1936. Arthur Rothstein (Amer., 1915-1985).
10 7/8 x 13 5/8 in. Fleeing A Dust Storm, Cimarron County, Oklahoma 1936/2003. He wanted to capture the impact that these storms had on the land and on the people, and was only truly able to do so at a time when there were low winds and high visibility.
He went on to a successful commercial career as the Director of Photography at Look and Parade magazines.Rothstein died in November of 1985. Arthur Rothstein (Amer., 1915-1985). Feb 21, 2016 - Photos of Arthur Rothstein. Digital Identifier: fsac 1a34260Through his use of balanced compositions, Rothstein was also able to portray life at Gee’s Bend in a positive light, showing the picturesque qualities of the log cabins.Rothstein’s favorite image, however, is one that he called Rothstein saw the FSA project a project so great and worthwhile that, in his mind, there was no question as to developing other projects like it.“The FSA compiled a priceless record of life in the United States and it is considered a valuable national resource.
Rothstein had been Stryker's student at Columbia University in the early 1930s. The dilapidated shed behind them speaks to the poverty of the times, although in reality the family’s barn and farmhouse were much sturdier structures.
1 photographic print ; 8 x 10 in. While on the job, Rothstein carried with him only what he needed.“I had a sleeping bag in my car and an ax to chop down trees that got in my way. In a 1942 interview, Rothstein described this photo as an example of “direction in a picture story,” (Curtis, 83).
Arthur Rothstein arrived in the Dust Bowl in April of 1936. 10 1/16 × 13 1/4" (25.6 × 33.6 cm). I had a shovel to dig myself out of snow or mud, a water bag, and a Coleman stove to cook things on. Artist: Arthur Rothstein (American, 1915–1985) Date: 1939 Medium: Gelatin silver print Accession: 1972.737.29 On view in: Not on view Sharecropper's Children, Fuguay Spring, North … Collection of Middlebury College Museum of Art, gift of George R. Rinhart, 1996.003. His lack of travel, he felt, allowed him to start his work at the FSA with new eyes, bringing a fresh outlook with him as well, which is why he believed that his early images were so successful.As a way to avoid being obtrusive in the lives of his subjects, he tried to spend some time with them before starting an assignment, hoping that they would be comfortable around him when it came time for him to work. Summary: Photo shows the Dust Bowl area. While the photograph captures the dire circumstances in which many farmers found themselves, it is the result of what Rothstein called “direction in a picture story” rather than a document of an actual dust storm.Listen as Professor of History and Environmental Studies, Kathryn Morse, discusses the photograph within the context of the Dust Bowl and Great Depression:A Middlebury College WordPress Site - Middlebury College Museum of Art All rights reserved. And I said, 'What a picture this is!' Over 350 houses had to be torn down after one storm alone. Arthur Rothstein. Farmer and sons walking in the face of a dust storm.
"And I looked and saw this man bending into the wind, with one of the boys in front of him and another one behind him, and great swirls of sand all around, which made the sky and the earth become one. Title Dust Storm, Cimarron County, Oklahoma. He thought of himself as a director, setting up in essence what was to be a recreation of a dust storm. Google Arts & Culture features content from over 2000 leading museums and archives who have partnered with the Google Cultural Institute to bring the world's treasures online.
Cimarron County, OK. April, 1936.
76).Photo courtesy of "Mind’s Eye, Mind’s Truth: FSA Photography Reconsidered" by James CurtisPhoto courtesy of "Mind’s Eye, Mind’s Truth: FSA Photography Reconsidered" by James CurtisThe Photo Unit admitted that the skull had been moved, but said that Rothstein had not been attempting to deceive the public.
Feb 7, 2017 - Explore bblackwell3548's board "Arthur Rothstein" on Pinterest. Experience what life was like on the southern Great Plains during the Dust Bowl.Right now, our climate is changing and we're experiencing the worst drought in more than 50 years. Dorothea Lange, for example, posed her subjects and used studio techniques in her field work to incorporate some of these artful techniques into her work (Curtis, pg. Department Photography and New Media. As for the skull, they said that it was a “moveable prop” that came in handy for photographers who “want to touch up their photographs with a bit of grisly” and called the image New Deal propoganda (Curtis, 75).As it turns out, however, This image was part of a larger series of images. He liked the previous close-up shot and so decided to move the skull to capture more dramatic contrast and deeper shadows.Photo courtesy of "Mind’s Eye, Mind’s Truth: FSA Photography Reconsidered" by James CurtisThis become Rothstein’s most famous image in this series, and the one that sparked this initial controversy, but it was not the last image in his skull series. Photographer Ken Heyman was asked to direct a photo project similar to the FSA project, called Photo 200, but the National Endowment for the Arts did not support it and this project was not taken farther.
They are curious, yet objective.
In 1975, a book was published with the results of this project, entitled The work that Rothstein did during the Great Depression is part of the Farm Security Administration collection and can be found, free of charge, on the Library of Congress website:Rothstein’s papers, dated from 1936 to 1984, are housed at the Smithsonian Archives of American Art. Fresh from Columbia University, Rothstein had been the first photographer hired by Roy Stryker, his former professor, at the Resettlement Administration, a New Deal agency that, from 1935 to 1936, relocated struggling families to communities planned by the federal government. He aimed to spread this view to others through his work by being truthful, and also by evoking feeling in the viewer. Fleeing A Dust Storm, Cimarron County, Oklahoma.
As he worked on producing these images over his five-year career at the FSA, Rothstein kept in mind that the documentary work that he was doing had “the power to move men’s minds,” (Rothstein 1986, 33).
This is a technique in which a photographer rephotographs the same scenes in order to show the changes that have taken place over time.