Social documentary

Jack Delano

1914–1997 · Ukraine / United States / Puerto Rico

Work, railways and collective life.

At the steam hammer, Santa Fe Railroad workshops, Albuquerque
Jack Delano · 1943-03
Jack Delano · Library of Congress, Farm Security Administration / Office of War Information.
Public domain — fonds FSA/OWI · Reuse conditions · Artwork record

The story

Jack Delano arrived in the United States from Ukraine as a child and trained in art and music. His assignments for the Farm Security Administration led him to photograph workers, transport and rural communities. He also made colour images. After discovering Puerto Rico on an assignment, he settled there in 1946 and continued working as a photographer, musician and filmmaker.

Understanding the work

Compare a person’s presence with the scale of machines and landscape. Colours, signs and gestures give cultural depth to the document.

Key works and series

Railway workers in Chicago; FSA/OWI photographs; Puerto Rican series.

Sources & further exploration

International Center of Photography — Jack Delano

A journey through images.

8 works

Click an image to enlarge it. Captions, collections and reuse conditions appear below each work. Captions describe the photographs; the source records retain catalogue titles and provide context.

Lower Manhattan from the S.S. Coamo, New York
Jack Delano · 1941-12
Jack Delano · Library of Congress, Farm Security Administration / Office of War Information.
Public domain — fonds FSA/OWI · Reuse conditions · Artwork record

At the Vermont fair, Rutland
Jack Delano · September 1941
Jack Delano · Library of Congress, Farm Security Administration / Office of War Information.
Public domain — fonds FSA/OWI · Reuse conditions · Artwork record

Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad switching locomotive
Jack Delano · January 1943
Jack Delano · Library of Congress, Farm Security Administration / Office of War Information.
Public domain — fonds FSA/OWI · Reuse conditions · Artwork record

Passengers waiting for a bus at Lowell station
Jack Delano · January 1941
Jack Delano · Library of Congress, Farm Security Administration / Office of War Information.
Public domain — fonds FSA/OWI · Reuse conditions · Artwork record

Cotton work near White Plains, Georgia
Jack Delano · June 1941
Jack Delano · Library of Congress, Farm Security Administration / Office of War Information.
Public domain — fonds FSA/OWI · Reuse conditions · Artwork record

A meal for a sugar plantation worker
Jack Delano · January 1942
Jack Delano · Library of Congress, Farm Security Administration / Office of War Information.
Public domain — fonds FSA/OWI · Reuse conditions · Artwork record

A street in Christiansted
Jack Delano · 2014-01-31 18:34:59
Jack Delano · Library of Congress, Farm Security Administration / Office of War Information.
Public domain — fonds FSA/OWI · Reuse conditions · Artwork record

Works in collections.

18 records

Photographs to explore on museum and library websites, with titles, dates and processes. Each link opens the collection record and its image where one is available.

MoMA · 1940
In the home of Steve Dino, Italian FSA client near Canterbury, Connecticut. His mother sells hooked rugs to suppliment their farm income
Gelatin silver print
MoMA · December 1940
Boxes of Kenyon's Johnny Cake cornmeal awaiting shipment. Usquepaug, Rhode Island
Gelatin silver print
MoMA · November 1940
Having a Beer in "Art's Sportsmen's Tavern" in Cole Chester, Connecticut, on a Rainy Day
Gelatin silver print
MoMA · November 1940
Hurricane Lumber, Ledyard, Connecticut
Gelatin silver print
MoMA · 1941
Children of Squatter Family Preparing to Move, South Carolina
Gelatin silver print
MoMA · June 1941
Interior of Negro Rural House, Greene County, Georgia
Gelatin silver print
Library of Congress · 1943-03
At the steam hammer, Santa Fe Railroad workshops, Albuquerque
Photograph — FSA/OWI collection
Library of Congress · 1941-12
Lower Manhattan from the S.S. Coamo, New York
Photograph — FSA/OWI collection
Library of Congress · September 1941
At the Vermont fair, Rutland
Photograph — FSA/OWI collection
Library of Congress · January 1943
Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad switching locomotive
Photograph — FSA/OWI collection
Library of Congress · January 1941
Passengers waiting for a bus at Lowell station
Photograph — FSA/OWI collection
Library of Congress · June 1941
Cotton work near White Plains, Georgia
Photograph — FSA/OWI collection
Library of Congress · January 1942
A meal for a sugar plantation worker
Photograph — FSA/OWI collection
Library of Congress · 2014-01-31 18:34:59
A street in Christiansted
Photograph — FSA/OWI collection
Library of Congress · March 1943
Tri des oranges dans une coopérative de Redlands
Photograph — FSA/OWI collection
Library of Congress · April 1943
Ouvrières dans la rotonde ferroviaire
Photograph — FSA/OWI collection
Library of Congress · April 1942
Red Saunders et sa famille lisant les bandes dessinées, Chicago
Photograph — FSA/OWI collection
Library of Congress · January 1942
Wagons de canne à sucre, Ensenada, Porto Rico
Photograph — FSA/OWI collection

Jack Delano

The story

Understanding the work

Key works and series

Sources & further exploration

A journey through images.

Works in collections.

In the home of Steve Dino, Italian FSA client near Canterbury, Connecticut. His mother sells hooked rugs to suppliment their farm income

Boxes of Kenyon's Johnny Cake cornmeal awaiting shipment. Usquepaug, Rhode Island

Having a Beer in "Art's Sportsmen's Tavern" in Cole Chester, Connecticut, on a Rainy Day

Hurricane Lumber, Ledyard, Connecticut

Children of Squatter Family Preparing to Move, South Carolina

Interior of Negro Rural House, Greene County, Georgia

At the steam hammer, Santa Fe Railroad workshops, Albuquerque

Lower Manhattan from the S.S. Coamo, New York

At the Vermont fair, Rutland

Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad switching locomotive

Passengers waiting for a bus at Lowell station

Cotton work near White Plains, Georgia

A meal for a sugar plantation worker

A street in Christiansted

Tri des oranges dans une coopérative de Redlands

Ouvrières dans la rotonde ferroviaire

Red Saunders et sa famille lisant les bandes dessinées, Chicago

Wagons de canne à sucre, Ensenada, Porto Rico

Other perspectives.

Peter Henry Emerson

Dorothea Lange

Felice Beato