United States. Farm Security Administration. Historical Section Search this
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Place of publication, production, or execution:
New York (State)
Physical Description:
18 Pages, Transcript
General Note:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav file. Duration is 1 hr., 3 min.
Access Note / Rights:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Summary:
An interview of John Vachon conducted 1964 April 28, by Richard Doud, for the Archives of American Art.
Vachon speaks of how he started on the Farm Security Administration project; getting started as an FSA photographer; helping to organize the photograph file; early assignments as a photographer; the influence of Walker Evans; making decisions about the subject matter of the photographs; the growth of the FSA project; the difference between being a photographer for LOOK magazine and for the FSA; his philosophy of photography; and his most memorable experiences with the FSA. He recalls Roy Stryker.
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with John Vachon, 1964 April 28. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Funding:
Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
Biography Note:
John Vachon (1914-1975) was a photographer from New York, N.Y. Vachon worked under Roy Stryker on the Farm Security Administration's Photography project. Also worked for LOOK magazine.
Language Note:
English .
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
