DOCUMERICA
Encyclopedia
DOCUMERICA was a program sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency
to "photographically document subjects of environmental concern" in the United States of America from about 1972 to 1977.
The images were made by approximately 70 well-known photographers contracted by the EPA for this project. Photographers included Danny Lyon, Gene Daniels, Marc St. Gil, Bill Strode
, Charles O'Rear
, Jack Corn, Tomas Sennett, Yoichi Okamote, Ken Hayman, and John H. White.
Like the earlier Federal photographic project of the Farm Security Administration
during the Great Depression
, some of the DOCUMERICA photographers interpreted their mission rather broadly, and sometimes artistically. Many preserve a distinct visual record of time and place.
Some of the subjects photographed are urban cityscapes, everyday life in small towns, scenes of natural beauty including beachs and mountains, urban areas including junk yard
s, streets, buildings, and traffic control; Amtrak
; air
and water pollution
; waterfronts
; mining scenes; and people. Areas included are National Parks and Forests, Lake Tahoe
, the Great Lakes
, the Alaskan Pipeline
, Hawaii
, Washington, D.C.
and cities throughout the United States. The project even wound up including some photographs of Canada, and even Yugoslavia and Austria
Digital scans of over 15,000 of the original 35mm color slides and black and white negatives and prints are available through the National Archives and Records Administration
's Archival Research Catalog.
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
to "photographically document subjects of environmental concern" in the United States of America from about 1972 to 1977.
Bill Strode
William Hall "Bill" Strode III was an American photographer.In 1966, the Pictures of the Year Competition hosted by the University of Missouri and the National Press Photographers Association named Strode Photographer of the Year. He was president of the NPAA in 1974...
, Charles O'Rear
Charles O'Rear
Charles O'Rear is an American photographer best known for his photos of wine country and the image Bliss that was used as a standard wallpaper in Windows XP....
, Jack Corn, Tomas Sennett, Yoichi Okamote, Ken Hayman, and John H. White.
Like the earlier Federal photographic project of the Farm Security Administration
Farm Security Administration
Initially created as the Resettlement Administration in 1935 as part of the New Deal in the United States, the Farm Security Administration was an effort during the Depression to combat American rural poverty...
during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, some of the DOCUMERICA photographers interpreted their mission rather broadly, and sometimes artistically. Many preserve a distinct visual record of time and place.
Some of the subjects photographed are urban cityscapes, everyday life in small towns, scenes of natural beauty including beachs and mountains, urban areas including junk yard
Wrecking yard
A scrapyard or junkyard is the location of a dismantling business where wrecked or decommissioned vehicles are brought, their usable parts are sold for use in operating vehicles, while the unusable metal parts, known as scrap metal parts, are sold to metal-recycling companies...
s, streets, buildings, and traffic control; Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
; air
Air pollution
Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or cause damage to the natural environment or built environment, into the atmosphere....
and water pollution
Water pollution
Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies . Water pollution occurs when pollutants are discharged directly or indirectly into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds....
; waterfronts
Dock (maritime)
A dock is a human-made structure or group of structures involved in the handling of boats or ships, usually on or close to a shore.However, the exact meaning varies among different variants of the English language...
; mining scenes; and people. Areas included are National Parks and Forests, Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. At a surface elevation of , it is located along the border between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America. Its depth is , making it the USA's second-deepest...
, the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
, the Alaskan Pipeline
Trans-Alaska Pipeline System
The Trans Alaska Pipeline System , includes the Trans Alaska Pipeline, 11 pump stations, several hundred miles of feeder pipelines, and the Valdez Marine Terminal. TAPS is one of the world's largest pipeline systems...
, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and cities throughout the United States. The project even wound up including some photographs of Canada, and even Yugoslavia and Austria
Digital scans of over 15,000 of the original 35mm color slides and black and white negatives and prints are available through the National Archives and Records Administration
National Archives and Records Administration
The National Archives and Records Administration is an independent agency of the United States government charged with preserving and documenting government and historical records and with increasing public access to those documents, which comprise the National Archives...
's Archival Research Catalog.
External links
- Documerica Project at the National Archives and Records AdministrationNational Archives and Records AdministrationThe National Archives and Records Administration is an independent agency of the United States government charged with preserving and documenting government and historical records and with increasing public access to those documents, which comprise the National Archives...
- DOCUMERICA at FlickrFlickrFlickr is an image hosting and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community that was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and acquired by Yahoo! in 2005. In addition to being a popular website for users to share and embed personal photographs, the service is widely used by bloggers to...