Documerica

I really enjoyed this exhibition because it captures a time in America when awareness like pollution was starting to come to a forefront. I felt like these photographs really captured what Americans were experiencing a change in our environment. Growth in every direction from building on rural land to booming highways and ever growing factories our country was going through a pollution crisis.

 One of the photographs that stood out to me were one in which Arthur Trees did, Breezy Point. It looked as if he captured an abandoned apartment community that was now in the middle of a wasteland. This image looks like where all the junk in the world goes to rot.

Another photograph that stood out to me was Tomas Sennett’s in which three men were standing out in front of an environmental office. I like this one in particular because of the fact that one of the men is standing with a bike. I feel like this reflects of pre-pollution and the start of “going green” with riding a bicycle. I thought it was kind of ironic. I also liked his photo of the California Western Rail Road because the train looked abandoned in the way in which he had captured the image. It is like this place is the resting grounds for trains because highways had replaced railways.

I think my most favorite image from this series is by Flip Shulke. This image captures three elderly women sitting out on the front porch of a retirement hotel. I love this image because of the sign in the background stating the name of the hotel, “The New Bolivar Hotel” and then these older women are sitting under the sign. I felt like there is a little bit of satire there.

I think Documerica is really amazing because it helped me visually see the struggles in which America went through with pollution. I still feel like we are struggling with this in some aspect, but we have definitely have come a long way.