How Do I Find the Documerica Photography for Download

From gas shortages to bell-bottoms, this new exhibition is a fascinating fourth dimension capsule of 1970s America. This collaboration between the Smithsonian and the National Archives and Records Administration stops in Topeka on its 15-city national tour.

Follow TopekaLibrary on Instagram for features about Topeka in the 1970s and an heady new local history project called Humans of Topeka.

MAY 23 – AUG two | 2015
Main Gallery

About the Exhibit

"Black youngsters cool off with fire hydrant water on Chicago`s Due south Side in the Woodlawn community. The kids don't get to the city beaches and utilize the burn hydrants to cool off instead. It'south a tradition in the customs, comprised of very depression income people. The area has high criminal offense and fire records. From 1960 to 1970 the percentage of Chicago blacks with income of $7,000 or more jumped from 26% to 58%."
John H. White, Chicago, Ill., June 1973

Images of everyday life in 1970s America evoke disco dancing and inflation, protests and bong-bottoms, gas shortages and suburban sprawl. At a fourth dimension when the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal wore on the national psyche, a burgeoning move to protect the natural environment was gaining force.

Searching for the Seventies: The DOCUMERICA Photography Project takes a look at the '70s using xc remarkable color photographs taken for a federal photography project called Project DOCUMERICA (1971–1977). Created by the Ecology Protection Agency, Projection DOCUMERICA was born out of the decade's environmental awakening, producing hitting photographs of many of that era's environmental problems and achievements. Drawing its inspiration from the Corking Depression-era Subcontract Security Administration photography projection, DOCUMERICA photographers created a portrait of America in the early and mid-'70s. About 70 well-known photographers, including John Corn, Lyntha Scott Eiler, Danny Lyon, Flip Schulke and John H. White, completed 115 separate assignments between 1972 and 1977. They took shots of pocket-size Midwestern towns, barrios in the Southwest and coal mining communities in Appalachia. Their assignments were equally varied as African American life in Chicago, urban renewal in Kansas City, commuters in Washington, D.C., and migrant subcontract workers in Colorado.

"Hitchhiker with his canis familiaris, 'Tripper,' on U.S. 66. U.S. 66 crosses the Colorado River at Topock."
Charles O'Rear, Yuma County, Ariz., May 1972

What emerged was a moving and textured portrait of America. Capturing a rapidly irresolute guild with surprising resonances to the present, "Searching for the Seventies: The DOCUMERICA Photography Project" is a sampling of images culled from a trove of thousands. DOCUMERICA photos include expected images of smog, polluted rivers and waste dumps. Simply the photos too capture the decade'south fashions, trends and lifestyles. From smokestacks to leisure suits, these images are a fascinating time capsule of '70s America.

The exhibition'southward three sections are named after popular songs of the time:

"Ball of Confusion" documents the tumultuous environmental, political and social reality of the '70s. The energy crises, ho-hum economic growth and high unemployment were themes pursued by many of the photographers. They brought bug such as the future of cities, gender equality, abortion and gay rights into crisp focus.

"Everybody Is a Star" showcases vibrant and various examples of cocky-expression—bell-bottoms, bare midriffs, mini dresses and vivid colors—all were in stark contrast to the buttoned-upwardly fashions and accompanying societal norms of the 1950s and early '60s. The ethos of the '70s was "practise your own thing." Some of the DOCUMERICA photographers were drawn to subject that emphasized growing appreciation of ethnic and cultural diversity.

"Pave Paradise" illustrates the fragmented landscape of America in the '70s. Much as today, many Americans had romanticized notions of an idyllic life in small-town America. But small-town reality was oftentimes one of poverty, pollution and quickly dwindling populations. The photographers also exposed the stark differences between sprawling suburbs and aging inner cities of the '70s. They trained their cameras on the great vistas and natural beauty of the American landscape, capturing the threat of development and environmental damage done in the proper name of progress.

"Michigan Avenue, Chicago"
Perry Riddle, Chicago, Ill., July 1975

"Searching for the Seventies: The DOCUMERICA Photography Project" is a collaboration between SITES and the National Archives and Records Administration, which now holds the original DOCUMERICA photographic materials and administrative records. The archival records and some 22,000 slides, in add-on to negatives, prints and microfiche, are stored in the stacks of the National Archives in College Park, Md. Almost 16,000 of the DOCUMERICA images tin be viewed on the Archives' website and on Flickr.

Nearly SITES

SITES has been sharing the wealth of Smithsonian collections and research programs with millions of people exterior Washington, D.C., for more than 60 years. SITES connects Americans to their shared cultural heritage through a wide range of exhibitions nigh art, science and history, which are shown wherever people alive, piece of work and play. Exhibition descriptions and tour schedules are bachelor at world wide web.sites.si.edu.

Multimedia Producer and Visual Creative person at the library. Painter of the Kids Library Mural and 3D scapes, Designer of the Learn and Play Passenger vehicle and AdventureMobile. When not at work yous can notice me drawing, making stuff out of wood and getting into trouble.

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