16 Photographs That Capture the Best and Worst of 1970s America
A new exhibit at the National Archives highlights an interesting decade—one that gave rise to the environmental movement and some awkward fashion
March 08, 2013 |
By Megan Gambino
The Hidden History of a Rock ’n’ Roll Hitmaker
Bassist Carol Kaye blazed her own trail, as the only female studio musician to record some of the greatest songs of the ’60s and ’70s
February 28, 2012 |
By Kent Hartman
William Eggleston's Big Wheels
This enigmatic 1970 portrait of a tricycle took photography down a whole new road
August 2011 |
By Mark Feeney
Shooting the American Dream in Suburbia
Bill Owens was seeking a fresh take on suburban life when he spotted a plastic-rifle-toting boy named Richie Ferguson
October 2010 |
By Owen Edwards
An Earth Day Icon, Unmasked
The 1970 photograph became an instant environmental classic, but its subject has remained nameless until now
August 2010 |
By Timothy Dumas
Christo's California Dreamin'
In 1972, artists Christo Jeanne-Claude envisioned building a fence, but it would take a village to make their Running Fence happen
June 2010 |
By Erica R. Hendry
Gene Kranz's Apollo Vest
NASA Flight Director Gene Kranz famously wore a homemade white vest as he averted tragedy during the Apollo 13 mission
April 2010 |
By Owen Edwards
Contemporary Aboriginal Art
Rare artworks from an unsurpassed collection evoke the inner lives and secret rites of Australia’s indigenous people
January 2010 |
By Arthur Lubow
A Photo-journalist's Remembrance of Vietnam
The death of Hugh Van Es, whose photograph captured the Vietnam War's end, launched a "reunion" of those who covered the conflict
November 2009 |
By David Lamb
Escaping the Iron Curtain
Photographer Sean Kernan followed Polish immigrants Andrej and Alec Bozek from an Austrian refugee camp to Texas
September 2009 |
By Dewitt Sage
Up in Arms Over a Co-Ed Plebe Summer
The first women to attend the Naval Academy became seniors in 1979. Photographer Lucian Perkins was there as the old order changed
July 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
Cindy Sherman: Monument Valley Girl
The artist's self portrait plays with our notions of an archetypal West
March 2009 |
By Victoria Olsen
Betty Ford's Tabled Resolution
Betty Ford had a what-the-hell moment—and an accomplice in photographer David Hume Kennerly
June 2008 |
By William Booth
The Pardon
President Gerald R. Ford's priority was to unite a divided nation. The decision that defined his term proved how difficult that would be
February 2007 |
By Barry Werth
Stars and Strife
A clash of cultures at Boston's City Hall in 1976 symbolized the city's years-long confrontation with the busing of schoolchildren
April 2006 |
By Celia Wren
Going for the Gold
A pop-music confection known as The Village People belted out disco hits in the 1970s that morphed into American standards
July 2005 |
By Owen Edwards
