Sunday, April 11, 2010

Author Paul Hendrickson's Biography/Memoir of Marion Post Wolcott

Just finished Paul Hendrickson's Looking for the Light, the hidden life and art of Marion Post Wolcott, a fascinating look at another photographer, this one gaining her fame through her work with the Farm Security Administration in 'shooting' photos of Americans and America during the latter years of the Depression and the first years of WWII.  After a relatively brief stint - three years, Marion Post Wolcott disappeared from the world of photography and was later (like forty years later) 'discovered' and given the acclaim that she deserved.  In brief: she got herself married and had kids and pretty much had far much to do to think of picking up her camera.  The author mixes biography with memoir (he became friends with Marion and her one and only husband, Lee) to tell a tale that is informative, revelatory and very touching as he tries to understand why the silence of the artist lady who traveled the South (and other places) in her convertible taking photos back around 1940.  More on Marion Post Wolcott at wikipedia.com and here for some of her photos.

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