“Once we open the possibility of an environmental image that includes social space, includes communities, we arrive at a representation of environmental harm that adequately conveys the ways in which social and environmental spaces are intertwined. Furthermore, we come to see the damages wrought by American industrial infrastructures as both environmental pollutions and social wastes.” – p. 10
Author Chris Balaschak examines histories of American photography and the environmental movement, as well as the industrial and post-industrial economic conditions of the United States in the twentieth century. With particular attention to a material history of photography focused on the display and dissemination of documentary images through print media and exhibitions, the work places emphasis on the depiction of communities and places harmed by industrialized capitalism. – Summarized from Publisher’s note.
Image 1: Front Cover with image by Dona Ann McAdams, “Rancho Seco, Sacramento, California, Sacramento Municipal Utility District,” postcard from the series, The Nuclear Survival Kit: They’re Juggling Our Genes!, 1981. Description: A woman is standing in front of the nuclear reactors.
Image 2: Lewis W. Hine, “Housing, Conditions: United States. Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh Survey: Accumulation. In Back Yards, 1907-8. Gelatin silver print mounted on board. Description: Black and white photo showing trash left by the brick building.
Image 3: Lewis W. Hine, “In Vacant Lots” from the same series as above. Description: Black and white photo showing a mound of trash accumulated in a vacant lot between buildings. Four small girls are standing by the trash.
The image of environmental harm in American social documentary photography Author / Creator Balaschak, Chris [author] New York : Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2021. x, 156 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 26 cm. Series / collection Routledge history of photography English 2021 HOLLIS number: 99155712145903941