Russell Lee (July 21,1903,Ottawa,Illinois –August 28,1986,Austin,Texas) was an American photographer and photojournalist.
Lee had trained as a chemical engineer,and in the fall of 1936 became a member of the team of photographers assembled under Roy Stryker for the federally sponsored Farm Security Administration documentation project. Lee is responsible for some of the iconic images produced by the FSA,including photographic studies of San Augustine,Texas in 1939,and Pie Town,New Mexico in 1940.
After the FSA was defunded in 1943,and after his own service in the Air Corps during World War II,Lee continued to work under Stryker,producing public relations photographs for Standard Oil of New Jersey. Some 80,000 of those photographs have been donated by Exxon Corporation to the University of Louisville in Kentucky. Lee moved to Austin,Texas in 1947 and became the first instructor of photography at the University of Texas in 1965. An important collection of his work is at the Wittliff collections,Texas State University.[1]
FSA:BEN SHAHN – “We Cater to White Trade Only”,Lancaster,Ohio,August,1938
Sign on restaurant,Lancaster,Ohio.
August,1938
Lancaster is a very prosperous town,the county seat of Fairfield County,which is considered to MORE
FSA COLLECTION:Russell Lee – “Drinking at the bar” (1938)
Drinking at the bar in Pilottown,Louisiana. 1938
FSA COLLECTION:Russell Lee – “Farmer’s wife” (1938)
Farmer’s wife washing clothes,near Morganza,Louisiana.
Russell Lee,1938
FSA COLLECTION:Russell Lee – “Sideshow Barker” (1938)
Barker at sideshow with performers,state fair,Donaldsonville,Louisiana.
FSA COLLECTION:Russell Lee – “Negroes in Market Square” (1939)
Negroes in market square,Waco,Texas. 1939
FSA COLLECTION:Russell Lee – “Interior of Hamburger Stand” (1939)
Interior of hamburger stand. Waiting for customer,Alpine,Texas. 1939
FSA COLLECTION:Russell Lee – “Game of Coon-Can” (1938)
Game of coon-can in store near Reserve,Louisiana. 1938
FSA COLLECTION:Russell Lee – “Drinking at the Bar” (1938)
Drinking at the bar in Pilottown,Louisiana. 1938
FSA COLLECTION:Russell Lee – “Cotton Picker” (1938)
Daylaborer,cotton picker,Lake Dick Project,Arkansas. 1938.
FSA COLLECTION:Russell Lee – “All Day Community Sing” (1940)
All day community sing,Pie Town,New Mexico. 1940
FSA COLLECTION:Russell Lee – “Booth in Hamburger Stand” (1939)
Booth in hamburger stand,Alpine,Texas. 1939
FSA COLLECTION:Russell Lee – “Cold drinks on Fourth of July” (1941)
Cold drinks on Fourth of July. Vale,Oregon. July,1941.
RUSSELL LEE:“Fortune teller,state fair,Donaldsonville,Louisiana.” (1938)
Fortune teller,state fair,Donaldsonville,Louisiana. 1938.
RUSSELL LEE:“Mexican newsstand,San Antonio,Texas.” (1939)
Mexican newsstand,San Antonio,Texas. March,1939.
RUSSELL LEE:“Raceland,Louisiana.” (1938)
Helper carrying beer from truck into nightclub,Raceland,Louisiana. September,1938.
FSA COLLECTION:Russell Lee –“Spanish farmer’s wife and daughter picking chili peppers,Concho,Arizona.” (1940)
Spanish farmer’s wife and daughter picking chili peppers,Concho,Arizona. September,1940.
RUSSELL LEE:“Farmers standing in street,Caruthersville,Missouri.” (1938)
Farmers standing in street,Caruthersville,Missouri. 1938
RUSSELL LEE:“Waco,Texas.” (1939)
Street vendor’s goods,Waco,Texas. 1939 Man in front of movie theater,Waco,Texas. 1939
RUSSELL LEE:“Street in Negro section of Chicago,Illinois.” (1941)
Street in Negro section of Chicago,Illinois. 1941
RUSSELL LEE:“Gold miner with his dog,Mogollon,New Mexico.” (1940)
Gold miner with his dog,Mogollon,New Mexico. June,1940.
RUSSELL LEE:“Negro boys sitting on bench on street,Waco,Texas.” (1939)
Negro boys sitting on bench on street,Waco,Texas. 1939.
RUSSELL LEE:“Tax collector’s office,Harlingen,Texas.” (1939)
Tax collector’s office,Harlingen,Texas. February,1939.
RUSSELL LEE:“Milk caps. Arizona part-time farms. Chandler unit.” (1940)
Milk caps. Arizona part-time farms. Chandler unit. 1940.
FSA COLLECTION:Russell Lee – “Mound Bayou,Mississippi” (1939)
Store,Mound Bayou,Mississippi. January,1939.
Beer hall,Mound Bayou,Mississippi. January,1939.
Negros in front of general store,MORE
FSA COLLECTION:Russell Lee – “Negroes Talking” (1938)
Negroes talking on porch of small store near Jeanerette,Louisiana. October,1938.
FSA COLLECTION:Russell Lee – “Lafayette,Louisiana”
Little Negro girls playing,Lafayette,Louisiana. October,1938.
Horse and buggy standing in front of store near Lafayette,Louisiana. October,1938.
RUSSELL LEE:"Pie Town,New Mexico"(1940)
Friends meeting at the Pie Town,New Mexico Fair. October,1940.
CARL MYDANS:“Lewis Hinter and Family”(1936)
Lewis Hinter,Negro client with his family on Lady’s Island off Beaufort,South Carolina.
June-July,1936
FSA:DOROTHEA LANGE –July,1939
Daughter of Negro sharecropper goes up and down the rows “worming”the tobacco. Wake County,North Carolina.
July,1939
FSA:DOROTHEA LANGE –February,1939
Colored family from near Houston,Texas. Been in California for two years. Husband came first,later sent for wife and two children,who traveled by MORE
FSA COLLECTION:Dorothea Lange –“Child living in Oklahoma City shacktown”(1936)
Child living in Oklahoma City shacktown.
August,1936
Soon Available as 12″x 12″Museum Quality Matte Print
RUSSELL LEE –"Newell,California (1942 or 1943)"
Japanese-American camp,war emergency evacuation,[Tule Lake Relocation Center,Newell,Calif.] 1942 or 1943.
RUSSELL LEE –"Delta County,Colorado (1940)"
Hauling crates of peaches from the orchard to the shipping shed,Delta County,Colorado. September,1940.
RUSSELL LEE –"St. Johns,Arizona (1940)"
Distributing surplus commodities,St. Johns,Arizona. October,1940.
RUSSELL LEE –"McIntosh County,Oklahoma (1939 or 1940)"
Scene at square dance in rural home in McIntosh County,Oklahoma. 1939 or 1940.
RUSSELL LEE –"Pie Town,New Mexico (1940)"
Jack Whinery,homesteader,with his wife and the youngest of his five children,Pie Town,New Mexico. October,1940.
RUSSELL LEE:"Pie Town,New Mexico"(1940)
Saying grace before the barbeque dinner at the Pie Town,New Mexico Fair. October,1940.
RUSSELL LEE:"Pie Town,New Mexico"(1940)
Mr. Leatherman,homesteader,shooting hawks which have been carrying away his chickens,Pie Town,New Mexico. October,1940.
RUSSELL LEE:"Pie Town,New Mexico"(1940)
Tying a ribbon on a calf’s tail was one of the feature attractions at the Pie Town,New Mexico Fair rodeo. October,1940.
RUSSELL LEE:"Pie Town,New Mexico"(1940)
Harvesting new corn from the field of Jim Norris,Pie Town,New Mexico. October,1940.
RUSSELL LEE:"Pie Town,New Mexico"(1940)
Jack Whinery and Jim Norris,homesteaders,looking at roots of stalk of corn,Pie Town,New Mexico. October,1940.
RUSSELL LEE:"Pie Town,New Mexico"(1940)
Men in front of outdoor fire,Pie Town Fair,New Mexico. October,1940.
RUSSELL LEE:"People at the Fair,Pie Town,New Mexico"(1940)
People at the Fair,Pie Town,New Mexico. October,1940.
RUSSELL LEE:"Pie Town,New Mexico"(1940)
Bill Stagg turning up his beans,Pie Town,New Mexico. He will next pile them for curing. October,1940.
RUSSELL LEE –"Pie Town,New Mexico (1940)"
Harvesting new corn from the field of Jim Norris,Pie Town,New Mexico. October,1940.
RUSSELL LEE:"Pie Town,New Mexico"(1940)
Mrs. Norris with homegrown cabbage,one of the many vegetables which the homesteaders grow in abundance,Pie Town,New Mexico. October,1940.
RUSSELL LEE –"Pie Town,New Mexico (1940)"
Fruit wagon at the Pie Town,New Mexico Fair. There is no fruit grown in this section and the people depend on outside truckers to MORE
RUSSELL LEE –"Pie Town,New Mexico (1940)"
Mr. Leatherman,homesteader,tying up cauliflower,Pie Town,New Mexico,October,1940.
RUSSELL LEE –"Pie Town,New Mexico (1940)"
Cutting the pies and cakes at the barbeque dinner,Pie Town,New Mexico Fair,October,1940.
RUSSELL LEE –"Pie Town,New Mexico (1940)"
School at Pie Town,New Mexico is held at the Farm Bureau Building,October,1940.
RUSSELL LEE –"Pie Town,New Mexico (1940)"
Serving pinto beans at the Pie Town,New Mexico Fair barbeque,October,1940.
RUSSELL LEE:“Jack Whinery and his family,Pie Town,New Mexico”(1940)
Jack Whinery,homesteader and his family,Pie Town,New Mexico,October,1940.
RUSSELL LEE:"Faro and Doris Caudill,Pie Town,New Mexico (1940)"
Faro and Doris Caudill,Homesteaders,Pie Town,New Mexico,October,1940