Digital BW, The Print

Yes, in both the color and digital collections, selected images are
available in up to "archival" TIFFs, some exceeding 100mb. These are
stunning jobs. Maybe enough to drive you mad if you've invested much
in film scanners and scanning technique. Some time ago, I downloaded a
few of the classic B&W images, thinking to use them for reference
and/or calibration. I figured this way there was at least a chance I'd
end up with prints I could later enjoy, as opposed to test charts.

Obviously B&W wasn't abandoned, not even close. What the curators
suggest, to me, is that the use of color coincidentally seems well
suited to conveying to us the later emphasis on patriotism,
boosterism, progress and prosperity, as black and white is a better
vehicle to convey the earlier focus on privation, hardship, etc.

As I recall from my reading, the nature of assignments seemed quite
varied. Not only did they change as the agency's mission changed, but
it appears that Roy Stryker was a good editor with some knack for
developing and managing individual talent. Assignments ranged from
literally documenting financial transactions, to editorial missions,
to reassigning a compelling subject as a long-term project, to pure
propaganda. There's that particularly colorful Stryker quote in the
Guardian piece: "Pour maple syrup over it - you know - mix well with
white clouds and put on a sky-blue platter. I know your damned
photographer's soul writhes, but to hell with it. Do you think I give
a damn about a photographer's soul with Hitler at our doorstep? You
are nothing but camera fodder to me."

I haven't a clue how much kodachrome was available, distributed or
assigned at the agency, and how much of that was successfully exposed,
successfully processed, and later properly stored and filed. AFAIK
early Kodachrome was ASA10. Films were slower then, but that seems
quite slow, especially assuming the narrower latitude of slide film.
In addition, processing was complex, proprietary and expensive. I
wouldn't be at all surprised if Kodachromes never got much past the
experimental stage at the OWI simply for practical reasons, including
the publishing limitations that you mentioned.

Nevertheless, this was a find, and I hope people give it more than a
cursory glance, especially as its so accessible. Its value may seem
somewhat prosaic and parochial to someone overseas, and I concede that
it is indeed more about questioning existing perceptions and images of
modern American history than about new revelations, but in a time and
place where facts seem so often and so easily overwhelmed by imagery
and mythology, I consider that more than a small contribution.

Bob L

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Peter Marshall
<petermarshall@...> wrote:
>
> I think you can see all 1600 of the images on line at the LoC, though I 
> only looked at a few hundred of them. You can also download some big 
> scans from the original slides (43Mb) and make your own prints, though 
> I've yet to try it. (You could even print these in black and white if 
> you were desperate to keep on topic!)
> 
> It is a relatively small collection, because there was little immediate 
> use for these images, and the photographers were still concentrating on 
> shooting in black and white during this period. And of course you are 
> right, the photographers weren't used to thinking in colour, and 
> certainly hadn't learnt to cope with the contrast of the film. The
color 
> work seems to me essentially an interesting footnote to what we already 
> know, but nothing more. The same changes in emphasis have often been 
> remarked on in the black and white work. Weren't they explicit in the 
> directions given to the photographers at the time?
> 
> Regards
> 
> Peter Marshall
> petermarshall@...     
> _________________________________________________________________
> My London Diary	              http://mylondondiary.co.uk/
> London's Industrial Heritage: http://petermarshallphotos.co.uk/
> The Buildings of London etc:  http://londonphotographs.co.uk/
> and elsewhere......
>