National "Documerica" Environmental Photo Exhibit
The School of Environmental and Biological Sciences hosted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “Documerica” photo exhibit from January 22 to February 5, 2013. The exhibit was located at the Cook Campus Center on the G.H. Cook Campus. In coordination with the exhibit, EPA’s Regional Administrator Judith Enck delivered a lecture on climate change at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, January 29, 2013.
The exciting showcase of photographs depicts environmental conditions of the past and present from the region and across the nation. From its development in 1971, “Documerica” became the United States’ first serious pictorial examination of the environment. The project collected more than 15,000 images, documenting the environmental and human conditions of this country when EPA was starting its mission. The idea was to visually record the difference in conditions in later years, providing the public with a measurement of progress made to accomplish goals set by Congress.
Forty years later the project was rediscovered with the help of National Archives. “State of the Environment” launched Earth Day 2011 as an opportunity for the public to participate and engage in a modern revitalization of “Documerica”. There are more than 1,900 new images that have been submitted to EPA through Flickr.
The EPA photo project will continue accepting photograph submissions through the end of 2013. Public entries will be considered for a larger exhibit of both projects set for March-September 2013 at the U.S. National Archives’ Lawrence F. O’Brien Gallery in Washington, D.C.
To learn more and to follow the project, visit: www.epa.gov/stateoftheenvironment.
To match images near you, a selection of the full record is available on the National Archives Flickr photostream.
