Documentary photography was well under way even before Frances Johnston was born, of course, but by the 1890s the camera, thanks to George Eastman, was getting into the hands of ordinary citizens for the first time on a large scale. Interest in photography of almost any subject was high. Johnston’s engaging personality, boldness, and photographic talent were the perfect formula to guarantee her success in press photography.
United States Bureau of Printing and Engraving, 1890. [LOC: LCJ688-32]
Woodworking shop, Tuskegee Institute, 1906. [LOC: LC-J694-468]
Students at Snow Hill Institute, 1902. “Snow Hill was one of several ‘little Tuskegees’ that sprang up because of the influence of Booker T. Washington’s school’’ (Daniel and Smock, 124). [LOC: LC-J694-201]
Ore dockworker, 1903. [LOC: LC-USZ62-32655]
Art class, Washington, D.C. school series. [LOC: LC-USZ62-15541]
Breaker boys at Kohinoor Mines, Shenandoah City, Pennsylvania, 1891. [LOC: LC USZ62-10106]
