Book DescriptionDuring the 1970s, the National Endowment for the Arts Photography Surveys granted money to photograph American cities in the bicentennial and years that followed. In "Through the Lens of the City: NEA Photography Surveys of the 1970s," Mark Rice brings to light this long-neglected body of photographic endeavor. From 1976 to 1981, the NEA supported more than seventy projects that examined a wide range of people and places in America. Artists involved included such well known photographers as Bruce Davidson, Lee Friedlander, and Joel Meyerowitz and many photographers who became widely known after their work with the surveys, such as Robert Adams, Joe Deal, Terry Evans, and Wendy Ewald. Rice argues that the NEA Photographic Surveys drew from two wells: a widespread sense of nostalgia and an intense public interest in photography. Looking at the works from eight key cities---Atlanta, Buffalo, Durham, East Baltimore, Galveston, Long Beach, Los Angeles, and...