Day 4 of Documerica Week on In Focus, featuring regions of the U.S. covered by the photographers of the Documerica Project in the early 1970s. Today we visit the state of Texas, where photographers captured images of industrialized waterfronts, small town daily life, impoverished neighborhoods, ranch workers, fun at the beach, and more. The Documerica Project was put together by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1971, with a primary goal of documenting adverse effects of modern life on the environment, but photographers were also encouraged to record the daily life of ordinary people, capturing a broad snapshot of America. Be sure to see the whole series: Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
America in the 1970s: Texas
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Left: Migrant father with young son, June 1972. This man and his family follow the crops north from Texas each year, living in substandard housing, and laboring all day for $2.00 an hour. Right: End of float trip on the Rio Grande River through the Santa Elena Canyon. Mexico is on the left, U.S. on the right, May 1972. #
Blair Pittman/NARA -
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Hunter and daughter before sunset waiting for a deer. Some of the hunters leave food out for the animals before the season starts. Once the deer get into routine feeding, the hunters can shoot them without much effort. Near San Antonio, December 1973. #
Marc St. Gil/NARA
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