Exhibit | New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs

Russell Lee’s FSA photography in New Mexico (Governor’s Gallery)

On display through Apr 12, 2019 at the New Mexico Museum of Art

Photographer Russell Lee created some of his finest work while traveling the United States for the Farm Security Administration. Among the communities he documented in New Mexico were Hobbs, Holman, Peñasco, Taos, Wagon Mound, and Quemado.  Lee’s defining work as a documentary photographer was created in Pie Town New Mexico in 1940.

Photography was not the primary purpose of the FSA but its outstanding photography program is what the agency is best known and remembered for today. The artists Stryker hired became some of the most iconic of documentary photographers including Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Russell Lee, Arthur Rothstein, Marion Post Wolcott and Gordon Parks.  In many ways, the FSA program defined American documentary photography and encouraged the development and popularity of the photo essay in publications like Life and Look magazine.

Russell Lee was born in Ottawa, Illinois in 1903. He trained and worked as a chemical engineer for years before studying to be become a painter. He borrowed a camera to develop his drawing skills and soon both his technical background and creative interests found a perfect tool of communication in the camera. Shortly after he was hired by Stryker to work for the FSA and was assigned to document the West and Midwest. While working for the FSA, Lee produced some of the finest work of his career including extensive photo essays on the Spanish speaking people of Texas and the rural homesteaders in Pie Town, New Mexico.

The photographs in the exhibition are shown with their descriptive captions and are all drawn from the New Mexico Museum of Art’s New Mexico Farm Security Administration Collection.

Commissioned by the federal government, the photographs and negatives taken for the Farm Security Administration and the Office of War Information are stored and maintained by the Library of Congress. Anyone can view the approximately 175,000 black-and-white images in the Farm Security Administration/ Office of War Information collection on the Library of Congress website.   http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/fsa/background.html

Also on exhibit at the New Mexico Museum of Art


New Mexico CulturePass

Your ticket to New Mexico's exceptional Museums and Historic Sites.
From Indian treasures to space exploration, world-class folk art to awesome dinosaurs—our museums and monuments celebrate the essence of New Mexico every day.
More Info »

The wallet size version of the CulturePass showing the $30 price
An animated image of a cell phone showing various topics presented in the Encounter Culture podcast

Encounter Culture

Take a look inside the museums and historic sites of New Mexico without leaving home. Join host Charlotte Jusinski, and a variety of guest curators, artists, and exhibitors in exploring the art and culture of the state in Encounter Culture, a new podcast from the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs.

Logo and Link to Google Podcasts Logo and Link to Apple Podcasts Logo and Link to Spotify Podcasts

Featured DCA Exhibitions

A photo featuring items representing the John P. Stapp Air & Space Park exhibition

John P. Stapp Air & Space Park

Named after International Space Hall of Fame Inductee and aeromedical pioneer Dr. John P. Stapp, the Air and Space Park
more »

A photo featuring items representing the Multiple Visions: A Common Bond exhibition

Multiple Visions: A Common Bond

Multiple Visions: A Common Bond has been the destination for well over a million first-time and repeat visitors to the
more »

A photo featuring items representing the Telling New Mexico: Stories from Then and Now exhibition

Telling New Mexico: Stories from Then and Now

Telling New Mexico: Stories from Then and Now sweeps across more than 500 years of history—from the state’s
more »

A photo featuring items representing the Silver and Stones: Collaborations in Southwest Jewelry exhibition

Silver and Stones: Collaborations in Southwest Jewelry

Currently on display in the New Mexico History Museum’s Palace of the Governors, is an unusual jewelry collection
more »