Only Here: Russell Lee in the West (1940-1942)

.

Wheat farm, Walla Walla, Washington, July 1941

The distances seemed endless

Wheat land, Walla Walla, Washington, July 1941

The vistas promised abundance

On Main Street, Cascade, Idaho, July 1941

The days seemed endless

Scrap and salvage depot, Butte, Montana: Russell Lee, October 1942

Rust followed us where we went

Scrap and salvage depot, Butte, Montana, October 1942

Everywhere we looked there was disorder

Shasta Dam under construction, California, June 1942

The earth was made to see beyond itself

Grain elevators, Caldwell, Idaho, July 1941

Its bounty reached to the sky

Distributing surplus commodities, St. Johns, Arizona, October 1940

Yet there was never more than enough

Filling station and garage, Pie Town, New Mexico, October 1940

This was the poverty of the land

Mill at Camp Bird Mine, Ouray, Colorado, October 1940

These were the riches of the earth

Photos by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration (Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, Library of Congress)