Russell Lee
(Russell Lee: Unemployed workers in front of shack with Christmas tree, East 12th Street, NYC)
Russell Lee (U.S., 1903–1986)
Unemployed workers in front of shack with Christmas tree, East 12th Street, NYC. 1938
Gelatin silver print
6 1/2 x 9 1/2 in. image size
Henry Art Gallery, Joseph and Elaine Monsen Photography Collection, gift of Joseph and Elaine Monsen and The Boeing Company, 97.93
Dorothea Lange referred to Russell Lee as the “the great cataloguer” because of his desire to visually document all facets of the Great Depression. Lee photographed it all, from urban to rural, east to west, and north to south. The photographer employed longest by the Farm Security Administration, Lee often infused a dry, mildly irreverent humor into his images. The Christmas tree at the dump in Unemployed workers in front of shack with Christmas tree, East 12th Street, New York could be read as a metaphor for optimism in a landscape of refuse piles. The men appear devastated, with heads in their hands. The tree adds a poignant element of humanity to their plight.