VACHON, John

John Vachon recorded terrible times during the GREAT DEPRESSION

VACHON, John (St, Paul, MN, May 19, 1914—New York, NY, Apr. 20, 1975). Vachon, a graduate of St. Thomas College in St. Paul, moved to Washington, D. C. during the end of the GREAT DEPRESSION intending upon becoming a writer. He worked instead as a clerk for the Farm Security Administration before being asked to join a small group of photographers asked to publicize the conditions of the rural poor in America. (1)

He worked under Roy Stryker, the economist and photographer responsible for some of the most striking images in American photography. Stryker’s photographers included geniuses like Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, and Ben Shahn. (2)

Vachon started for the FSA’s Resettlement Agency with no idea what it did and no interest in photography. The daily exposure to the FSA archives gave him an appreciation for the form.

         In the spring of 1937 I asked Stryker if I could 
         use a camera just to see what I could do with it, 
         which I had never in my life done or wanted to do. (3)

He learned on the job with county agents who helped him gain access to the people he photographed, mostly rural enclaves. (4)

From 1936 to 1943, Vachon traveled across the United States for FSA historical files. (5) In 1940 Vachon came to Dubuque. His black-and-white pictures of the living and working conditions showed the trouble facing American farmers and laborers. (6)

During WORLD WAR II Vachon worked as a photographer for the Office of War Information in Washington, D.C. He was also employed by the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey and the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration.

In 1947 Vachon became a staff photographer for Life Magazine. This was followed by employment with Look Magazine (1949-1971). After the closing of this magazine, he became a freelance photographer and a visiting lecturer at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. (7)

Vachon recorded shacktown residents near the river.

Vachon photograph of other shacktown people.

Vachon photograph of a cow kept near a shacktown residence.

Vachon photograph of trash being tossed on the dump near the river.

Vachon's record of the city dump and stream pollution.

Vachon also showed daily life such as spring cleaning in other parts of the city.

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Source:

1. Moser, Whet. "Chicago Life During Wartime: The Photographs of John Vachon," Chicago, July 13, 2012, Online: http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/The-312/July-2012/Chicago-Life-During-Wartime-The-Photographs-of-John-Vachon/

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid.

5. Vachon, John. John Vachon’s America Photographs and Letters from the Depression to World War II. University of California Press: An Ahmanson-Murphy Fine Arts Book, 2003

6. "John Vachon," Spartacus Educational, Online: http://spartacus-educational.com/USAPvachon.htm

7. Ibid.