Times of Sorrow and Hope: Documenting Everyday Life in Pennsylvania During the Depression and World War II: A Photographic Record (Keystone Books) Hardcover – June 24, 2003

Excellent

In 1935 the Farm Security Administration launched an initiative to document the effects of the U.S. Government's agricultural policies. Under the leadership of Roy Stryker the project quickly developed a wider brief, that of producing a sociological portrait of American life. The "shooting scripts" for the original brief were explicit but the wealth of photographs documenting urban and rural life was more far-reaching. The FSA was dismantled when the U.S. became involved in World War II and in 1942-43 the project resided in the Office of War Information. There were 164,000 black and white photographs produced between the Depression and the end of the war, and 1,600 color photographs. Today the majority of this record is archived and catalogued on-line, and it's breathtaking.TIMES OF SORROW & HOPE is a canvass of the FSA-OWI photographs from Pennsylvania. Of the 6,000 in the record, 150 are reproduced in this book by Allen Cohen and Ronald L. Filippelli. Wonderful as the photos are, the book is vastly enriched by the editorial material provided. The book opens with a history of the state that provides context, followed by some basic information about the FSA-OWI project for those unfamiliar with it. At the back of the book there is an introduction to the on-line catalog (parallel project to the book) and to the indexing by photographer and by location. The appendices provide detailed notes on the 150 photos in this book and summary biographies of the photographers whose work is included. Finally, the book closes with a resource and bibliography section.And in the middle, the photographs, arranged in twelve sections covering the state's urban, rural and industrial characters. It would be impossible to convey the impact of these photos in words, but if you have the opportunity to study the book you will know that you're looking at your family album. Breathtaking. Iconic. Incredibly moving. A beautifully produced book.Conceived with a utilitarian brief, the FSA-OWI project became so much more. Photographer Ansel Adams once said that the FSA photographers were "a bunch of sociologists with cameras" (pp. 29-30). I wonder whether the administrators and photographers realized the importance of what they were creating--and I wonder what history will honor as an equally perceptive characterization of our current decadeLinda Bulger, 2009

This is the sixteenth book of FSA photos devoted to a State that I've bought and I must say it is probably the best one from any criteria, photo selection, editorial content, design and printing. Though it only has 150 photos, a close second to this title would be 'Picturing Texas' (ISBN 0876111401) which has more than 200, it makes up for less visually by having such a comprehensive editorial content.The photos are divided into twelve sections and this being Pennsylvania there are sections covering coal and steel production. Each page has a photo with a short caption centered below and if I have a criticism it would be that the images could have been just a bit bigger. It is the pages after the photos that make this book so interesting to me. There is an introduction to the Times of Sorrow & Hope on-line catalog (this includes the six thousand taken in Pennsylvania) followed by two indices, one of photographers and one of places. Next, Appendix A has excellent expanded captions and technical information about the 150 photos, Appendix B is a biography of the main photographers and lastly a Resources and Selected Bibliography. The bibliography is particularly impressive because it is so comprehensive and nicely includes books about individual photographers. I've not really commented on the actual photos, they are all extraordinary visual documents, as one would expect.The book overall I found very impressive, the editorial and production could be a useful template for any State Historical Societies that want to publish images from the FSA files about their State, this is what your publication should aspire to.***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.