Russell Lee captured this image of onlookers during a 1954 Mount Vernon, Texas, campaign stop by gubernatorial candidate Ralph Yarborough. Incumbent Democratic Gov. Allan Shivers defeated Yarborough in the March primary that year. Photo courtesy of Russell Lee Photograph Collection, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin
The Falls on the Colorado Museum presents “Russell Lee Photographs,” an exhibit of American images from the 1930s and ’40s. It runs Nov. 13 through Dec. 30 at the museum, 2001 Broadway in Marble Falls.
Lee was a renowned Farm Security Administration photographer who criss-crossed the country capturing stunning images focused on politics, travel, industry, and the human condition. Later in life, he taught photography at the University of Texas at Austin.
“Even if you’re not familiar with the name Russell Lee, you’ve probably seen his work,” said museum Chairman Amanda Seim in a media release announcing the exhibit. “We are very excited to be able to make this exhibit available to our visitors.”
Photographs were drawn from an archive that Lee donated to the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History just before he died in 1986. The exhibit offers a rare glimpse at the remarkably accomplished images he produced in 1935 and 1936 when he first took up a camera and goes on to highlight his vast body of important work from 1947-77.
Organized by the Dolph Briscoe Center and UT-Austin, “Russell Lee Photographs” is presented in partnership with Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
For more information about the exhibit, The Falls on the Colorado Museum in general, or to arrange group visits, email focmuseumchair@gmail.com. The museum is open from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Admission is free, but donations are appreciated.
