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231:. Vachon had no intention of becoming a photographer when he took the position in 1936, but as his responsibilities increased for maintaining the FSA photographic file, his interest in photography grew. The FSA sent more than forty photographers into the field and collected images of American life that would result in an archive of 165,000 FSA prints. Some FSA employees had well-established careers, while others become famous as photographers as a result of their work, including
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376:. In Vachon's later years, he was teaching a class in photography where he kept notebooks on the main points of the day. For December 9, 1974 he reflects on it earlier assignment he had given his students to emulate the work of FSA photographers. Vachon continued as a freelancer until cancer brought him down. Vachon died of cancer in 1975 in New York at age 60.
137:. He was the son of Ann Marie (O'Hara) and Harry Parnell Vachon. His parents were not well off, his father made a get-by living as a traveling salesman in stationery supplies.He had one younger brother named Robert. Vachon had a Catholic education and graduated from Cretin High School local military Catholic high school (now
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the people he met, the news he read about, and the movies he watched. In the letters, Vachon describes how he relied on Penny to support him and his work. They had three children. Penny committed suicide in 1960. Vachon married Marie
Francoise Fourestier in 1961. They had two more children. Vachon served in the
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In about 1938 Vachon married
Millicent Leeper who was known as Penny. While Vachon was on the road working as a photographer for the FSA, he wrote daily letters to Penny, as well as to his mother. He wrote them to describe his experiences, ambitions, self-doubt, sense of humor, obligation to the FSA,
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and become a writer. As he began his studies, a few months later, he was forced to leave school due to his drinking. After his leave from graduate school, Vachon looked for work around
Washington, D.C.,finding his first job in photography working for the Farm Security Administration's Historic
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223:. The photo program ran until 1944, documenting the challenges of rural poverty and farm life. John Vachon's first job at the FSA carried the title "assistant messenger." He was twenty-one, and had come to Washington, D.C., from his native
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agency created in 1937 to combat rural poverty during the Great
Depression in the United States. The FSA is famous for its small but highly influential photography program which began in 1935 under its prior name and mission as the
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on his first extensive solo trip. He photographed agricultural programs on behalf of the FSA's regional office and pursued an extra assignment from the photography project's chief, Roy
Stryker: the city of
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valley"were clearly the work of a beginner, but
Stryker lent him equipment and encouraged him to keep at it. Arthur Rothstein, who took him along on a photographic assignment to the mountains of
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New
Orleans, Louisiana, 1943. View on Canal Street, with the D. H. Holmes department store fascade covered with large advertisements urging support for the World War II effort.
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1975 Visiting lecturer in photography, Minneapolis
Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, Minn. 1975, Apr. 20 Died, New York, N.Y.
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Venezuela for Jersey Standard
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magazine, where he worked between 1947 and 1949, and for over twenty five years beginning in 1947 at
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June 1943 New Orleans, Louisiana. Patrol Torpedo boats under construction at the Higgins shipyards
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1108:"Review of John Vachon's America: Photographs and Letters from the Depression to World War II"
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1946: Photographic assignment, United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, Poland
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1947–1971 Staff photographer, Look magazine, New York, N.Y. 1961 Married Françoise Fourestier
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in adulthood and son Micheal became an editor whom worked with his father in later years.
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closed, he had continued to work as often as he could. He photographed two stories for
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between 1943 and 1944. After serving in the army in 1944–45, in 1947 Vachon joined the
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John Vachon's America: Photographs and Letters from the Depression to World War II
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John Vachon's America: Photographs and Letters from the Depression to World War II
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Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives
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camera in and around Washington. His weekend photographs of "everything in the
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and participated in many exhibitions. Between 1945 and 1947 he photographed
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in Saint Paul and received a bachelor's degree in 1934. Vachon moved to
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1942–1943: Photographer, Office of War Information, Washington, D.C.
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Farm Security Administration photographers (from left) John Vachon,
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This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the
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As the Great Depression lessened and American involvement in the
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increased, the government moved FSA photography project to the
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Original caption: "Negro Family waiting for ride into town",
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1947–1949: Staff photographer, Life magazine, New York, N.Y.
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John Vachon was born on May 19, 1914, to a middle-class
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1943–1944: Photographer, Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey
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United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
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People of the United States Office of War Information
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1938: Married Millicent (“Penny”) Leeper (died 1960)
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magazine. In 1953 Vachon took the first pictures of
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682:November 1943. Grain elevator in Amarillo, Texas.
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421:1971–1975 Freelance photographer, New York, N.Y.
100:(May 19, 1914 – April 20, 1975) was an American
388:1934: B.A., St. Thomas College, St. Paul, Minn.
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162:to document the plight of migrants during the
158:Division as one of the photographers hired by
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1141:"An Interview with John Vachon 28 April 1964"
1101:Biography at Illinois State Geological Survey
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360:when Monroe cured a sprained ankle near
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1139:Doud, Richard K.; Vachon, John (2005).
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442:Segregated drinking fountain on the
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815:. University of California Press.
750:. University of California Press.
385:1914: May 19 Born, St. Paul, Minn.
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318:Standard Oil Company of New Jersey
229:The Catholic University of America
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781:"John Vachon: A Certain Look"
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1039:"Kolekcje - Muzeum Warszawy"
210:Farm Security Administration
174:in 1945. Vachon's daughter,
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1157:10.1086/aaa.45.1_2.25435101
809:Vachon, John (2003-12-12).
744:Vachon, John (2003-12-12).
609:San Augustine County, Texas
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720:60 Ans de Photos de Presse
717:Neubauer, Hendrik (1997).
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304:Other notable employment
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143:University of St. Thomas
1356:12 Million Black Voices
1068:search.archives.jdc.org
974:Walpole, Peter (2004).
493:Photograph Collection,
477:box, Missouri. May 1940
637:New Orleans, Louisiana
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1106:Murphy, Mary (2005).
915:. Library of Congress
866:Murphy, Mary (2005).
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785:AMERICAN HERITAGE
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261:Gordon Parks
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72:(1975-04-20)
55:May 19, 1914
1410:1975 deaths
1405:1914 births
1379:Roy Stryker
1300:Jack Delano
1296:(1936/1938)
1294:John Vachon
1282:Russell Lee
1276:Carl Mydans
1045:(in Polish)
1018:www.loc.gov
954:www.loc.gov
605:vaccination
326:Photo Notes
265:Carl Mydans
257:Russell Lee
245:Jack Delano
204:Roy Stryker
200:Russell Lee
160:Roy Stryker
90:Photography
23:John Vachon
1399:Categories
1073:2022-05-10
1049:2024-02-22
1024:2022-05-10
960:2022-05-10
849:2022-05-10
790:2022-05-10
568:Worker at
330:New Jersey
227:to attend
133:Family in
118:magazine.
51:1914-05-19
1258:Ben Shahn
1181:192808082
1165:0003-9853
1124:0026-9891
992:0042-675X
884:0026-9891
572:plant in
523:Bethlehem
334:Venezuela
273:Ben Shahn
225:Minnesota
153:to study
122:Biography
1173:25435101
1000:26443779
380:Timeline
300:states.
289:Nebraska
285:Virginia
216:New Deal
131:Catholic
110:New Deal
1367:Related
1132:4520698
919:May 12,
892:4520698
576:, 1942.
460:Georgia
429:Gallery
1359:(1941)
1351:(1936)
1332:(1942)
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186:Career
61:, U.S.
1340:Works
1177:S2CID
1169:JSTOR
1128:JSTOR
996:JSTOR
913:(PDF)
888:JSTOR
688:Notes
654:boy.
635:1943
588:1942
362:Banff
294:Omaha
277:Leica
202:with
128:Irish
1161:ISSN
1120:ISSN
988:ISSN
921:2022
880:ISSN
817:ISBN
752:ISBN
725:ISBN
366:Look
356:and
349:Look
343:Life
332:and
271:and
198:and
115:Look
67:Died
41:Born
1229:FSA
1153:doi
475:RFD
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