Russell Lee Photograph Collection - Excerpt from Introduction - Page 4
Excerpt from "There Was A Job To Do" The Photographic Career of Russell Lee by J. B. Colson
Top: Frowning political speaker. Note his forefinger tucked into the watch pocket of his vest and the array of expressions on the faces of those behind him. This penetratrating document was Lee's earliest take on American political life, a subject he dealt with extensively during his Texas
years. 1935-1936. Left: For a privileged few, the Great Depression of the 1930s did not disrupt the good life. Another shot in this series, a close-up of the facial artist, indicates that the subjects acknowledged this photography, although it seems candid. From the beginning Lee sometimes worked with what
photojournalists later called the "posed/unposed" method, in which the subjects cooperated to give natural-looking pictures by following their normal routines for the camera. 1935-1936. Right: This low-light interior shot of a dental factory helps to illustrate the suprising range of Lee's first year of photography. 1935-1936.