Arthur Rothstein Nevada Photograph
Arthur Rothstein made some of the most significant documentary photographs ever taken of rural and small-town America.
These images were created during his years traveling throughout the nation on assignment for the US Farm Security Administration, one of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal” agencies that restored and rebuilt an America devastated by the Great Depression.
In 1940, Rothstein joined the staff of Look magazine.
With the start of the WWll, Rothstein completed photojournalistic assignments for the US Army Signal Corps in China, Burma, and India.
After a short assignment for the United Nations, he returned to Look magazine, where he served as director of photography for 25 years during the Golden Age of post-war photo magazines.
He then held the same position for Parade magazine for 15 years, until his death in 1985.
During his years in magazine photojournalism Rothstein continued his own work, teaching, writing nine books as well as numerous newspaper and magazine columns on photography.
His photographs of America during the Great Depression were some of the most widely-published photographs of the 20th century, and are held in the collections of major museums around the world.
Basque sheepherder, Dangberg Ranch, Douglas County, Nevada, 1940. Photo by Arthur Rothstein. Courtesy of Arthur Rothstein Legacy Project.
When the Basques first emigrated from Spain and France to Nevada, most did it for gold.’
Many had participated in the California Gold Rush.
Some came directly from Basque regions in Europe, while others who had fled to Argentina to escape civil war in Spain in the 1830s, made the trek north when the news of the gold discovery reached them in 1848.
When they could not find gold, they had to find another way to make their fortunes.
Despite language barriers Basques settled in Nevada, expanding ranch operations with compatriots arriving from the old country.
This is how Elko became the center for Basque sheep ranching enterprises.
This Arthur Rothstein exhibit is made possible by the Arthur Rothstein Legacy Project.
