CURATION - ISSUE FIVE

DOCUMERICA

THE EDITORS



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Experimental Farm, Las Vegas, NV, Charles O’Rear, 1972
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n 1972, the Environmental Protection Agency funded DOCUMERICA, a  program designed to “document subjects of environmental concern” across the US. This program produced around 80,000 images ranging from domestic scenes to dust storms to strip mining rigs on Indian burial grounds. Disappointingly, over forty years have passed without any comparable large-scale photographic examination of environmental, economic, and class issues in America. Nevertheless, these images feel as hauntingly relevant now as they must have nearly two generations ago. 
(Excerpt from an introduction by the Editors)

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Sunbathers, Huntington Beach, CA, Charles O’Rear, 1972
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Burning Discarded, Automobile Batteries, Houston, TX, Marc St. Gil, 1972
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