Revisit the 1970s through 100 remarkable colour photographs taken for the Environmental Protection Agency's DOCUMERICA project. These images chosen from 22,000 files in the National Archives of the United States highlight the fashions, trends, problems, and achievements of the decade. In addition to photographs of environmental blight and activism, DOCUMERICA images capture issues such as eco-politics, urban revitalisation, suburbanisation, and deindustrialisation. They depict trends such as the growing appreciation of cultural diversity, the changing roles of women, and post-1960s youth culture. Drawing inspiration from the depression-era Farm Security Administration (FSA) photography project, DOCUMERICA photographers created a portrait of America in the early and mid-1970s featuring small Midwestern towns, barrios in the Southwest, and coal mining communities in Appalachia. Their assignments were as varied as African American life in Chicago, urban renewal in Kansas City, commuters in Washington, DC, and migrant farm workers in Colorado. AUTHOR: Bruce I. Bustard is a senior curator with the National Archives in Washington, DC. He has been the curator of several major National Archives exhibits including most recently Attachments: Faces and Stories from Americas Gates for which he also wrote the catalogue. He was the lead researcher for Discovering the Civil War, the Archives' exhibit commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War SELLING POINTS: Features over 100 colour photographs from the US National Archives DOCUMERICA project, taken between 1972 and 1978 Includes iconic images such as "Hitchhiker with His Dog, 'Tripper' on U.S. 66" by Charles O'Rear and "Approaching Logan Airport" by Michael Philip Manheim ILLUSTRATIONS: 120 colour photographs
