Common Goods: Pie Town

Here are some great photos from The Commons over at Flickr. The backstory? Russell Lee was a photographer for the federally sponsored documentation team sent in 1940 to bear witness to the New Deal's Farm Security Administration. The FSA offered relief to impoverished rural farmers by relocating them into large communities on suitable farm land. The communtiy that Lee photographed was Pie Town in New Mexico, so named for a local dried-apple pie business and an annual Pie Fesitval held there every September. The photos of the relocated homesteaders at the tail end of The Depression are incredible. The use-everything, hand-sewn jumpers on the kids, the home-done shortbang, bowl haircuts, the colors of the printed fabrics, it's all gorgeous. I hope it doesn't sound insensitive to focus on the aesthetics of poverty, but the human experience in all of its forms fascinate me and there's always something beautiful to see. I hope you agree.

The Commons lets photo viewers add their comments, hoping to encourage people with knowledge on the topics to enrich the viewing experience. So, maybe you'll learn something by looking at aesthetically pleasing photos. I know I did.