In 1942, Office of War Information photographer John Collier (May 22, 1913 – February 25, 1992), who would become best known for promoting the use of photography in anthropology, visited the Montour No. 4 Mine of the Pittsburgh Coal Company in Washington County, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Collier was born in Sparkill, N.Y., and studied painting in San Francisco before taking up photography in 1935. In 1941 he joined the F.S.A. photographic program under Roy E. Stryker. He later participated in documentary projects at the Office of War Information and after World War II at the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey. In 1946 he began his first project using photography as part of an anthropological study, working with Anibal Buitron in Olavalo, Ecuador; the results were published three years later as “The Awakening Valley.”
Via: Library of Congress
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