Bountiful Harvest: The Midwestern Farm Photographs of Pete Wettach, 1925-1965 FROM THE PUBLISHER
At the time of his death in 1976, A. M. "Pete" Wettach left behind an enormous collection - some tens of thousands of images - that provides a breathtaking complement to the work of other American photojournalists of his time. A self-taught photographer who worked for the Farm Security Administration as a county supervisor in southeast Iowa during the 1930s and 1940s, he carried his camera as he traveled across the countryside visiting clients. Although Wettach was not hired as an FSA photographer, his pictures provide a fascinating parallel to the more famous work of his FSA colleagues Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, and Russell Lee. Yet unlike their photographs, his reveal an amazing intimacy and familiarity with his subjects, who were frequently his friends, neighbors, family members, and clients.
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
The photographs in this outstanding book are drawn from thousands of images taken by Wettach over the course of 40 years. A self-taught photographer, Wettach worked as an Iowa county supervisor for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) during the 1930s and 1940s. Although he was not hired as an FSA photographer, his work both complements and effectively contrasts with images by Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Russell Lee, and other well-known photographers. While the FSA photographers poignantly captured the hardships of the Great Depression, Wettach depicts frugal rural people in the Midwest busily gathering hay, picking apples, butchering hogs, and generally providing for themselves, as well as enjoying occasional simple pleasures. Still, the book's title refers more to the collection of photographs than to the farm families, who are at best just getting by. The great strength of Wettach's work is the intimacy of his photographs. Journalist and editor Loveless has done a superb job of selecting the photographs and arranging them into separate chapters. Her text and captions set the photographs in a distinct time and place. Essential for all collections of fine photography and 20th-century American history.-Raymond Bial, Parkland Coll. Lib., Champaign, IL Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.
Art & Photography
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