Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Chicago's South Side, 1970's

Some amazing photojournalism.
Day 3 of Documerica Week on In Focus -- a new photo essay each day, featuring regions of the U.S. covered by the photographers of the Documerica Project in the early 1970s. Today's subject is Chicago's African-American community, primarily the South Side, documented by photographer John H. White, who went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Photojournalism in 1982. White landed a job with the Chicago Sun Times in 1978, and continued to work there until May of 2013, when the newspaper laid off its entire photojournalism department. His portraits of everyday life stand the test of time, inviting the viewer to travel back a few decades, and see just how we lived. The Documerica Project was put together by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1971, with a primary goal of documenting adverse effects of modern life on the environment, but photographers were also encouraged to record the daily life of ordinary people, capturing a broad snapshot of America. (Read more.)
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1 comment:

Brantigny said...

I left Chicago the year prior. A northwest side kid I never spent much time on the south side. Not much has changed in Chicago, it has gotten worse. These same neighbourhoods are now the scene of black on black murders, Jesse Jackson has gone to Florida for Travon Martin. Some of teh finest Public High Schools have a terrible drop out rate. It is a pity.