2018.035.005 [Station, Railroad]

Artist: John Vachon Title: Chicago Great Western Railroad Station Medium:Black and white photograph Date: 1940 Credit Line: Dubuque Museum of Art. Gift of William G. & Barbara Kruse. Description: John Vachon became a documentary photographer by accident. A native of Minnesota, Vachon was a student at Catholic University in Washington, DC, when he joined the Farm Security Administration (FSA) in 1936 as a messenger and file clerk. Vachon had no intention of becoming a photographer when he took the position but as his responsibilities increased, his interest in photography also grew. In April 1940, Vachon visited Dubuque and what he found there moved him deeply. Here was a picturesque Midwestern town that was experiencing the effects of the Depression as keenly, as harshly, as other parts of the country. He depicted the residents of Dubuque in a way he portrayed all of his subjects – mingling an unblinking interest with genuine compassion. It is easy to see in the Dubuque photographs, such as Chicago Great Western Railroad, and in the ten thousand other images he took for the FSA why Vachon was called a “poet photographer” later by his editors at Look magazine. Content can be used with the following standards: 3rd grade SS 3.28 Cultural Contributions in a lesson on art culture and Iowan artists. For any use other than instructional resources, please check with the organization that owns this item regarding copyright restrictions.