Nethers Post Office

a still from the film, Rothstein's First Assignment

Rothstein's cover image for his book

Originally I had thought Rothstein's First Assignment might be a re-photographic project. Something along the lines of Mark Klett and William Christenberry's work. I was intrigued by the idea that almost all of Rothstein's sites were now part of a National Park. Instead of the usual routine of documenting the encroachment of development, I thought it might be interesting to document the transformation of previously inhabited land back to 'pristine wilderness.' The whole idea of returning land back to nature seemed problematic. I felt it to be based on what is called, "The Pristine Myth." The false conception we have regarding the origins of much of America. A belief that largely denies the existence of Native Americans.

I started with the Nethers Post Office. The cover image for Rothstein's own book on the depression (see above). I had originally hoped that the building would still be there, but it wasn't. While looking for where it had been, I saw Mr Dodson out in his yard next door. I asked him if the empty lot next to his house was where the Nethers PO had been. He confirmed that it was and told me that his grandfather was in the cover Post Office image. In fact he told me, his brother has the old PO sign. That was how I secured my first interview for the project. The turning point for Rothstein's First Assignment becoming a film.

another Rothstein image of Nethers Post Office

There were a couple of things about Rothstein's photograph that seemed odd to me, even then. If you look closely at the boy in the back picture he's blurred from moving too much. This indicates a slow shutter speed. Everything else is sharp. Also in the top right you can see Rothstein's hand blocking the light from producing flare on the lens. Because of the buildings orientation, he's shooting almost into the sun. These details show that Rothstein didn't shoot this image with a Leica as he talks about in the Richard Doud interview, but with a large format camera on a tripod. The image is clearly staged as even John Dodson would later attest.

Rothstein took a number of photographs of the Post Office. Other images have different people. In some there's a man reading a paper. Some are even taken with a 35mm camera, but the most important were produced with this large format camera.

Rothstein 35mm image of Nethers Post Office

The Nether's Post Office was clearly important to his assignment. In trying to understand this I looked it up at the Prints and Photographs division at the Library of Congress. There the Nether's PO image is simply filed with all the other Post Office photos. The imporatance being that it is a Post Office. But that doesn't begin to tell the whole story of why Rothstein spent so much time there. It wasn't until I found an archival film which also documented the Post Office that I would begin to understand the true reason that Rothstien spent so much time at the Nethers Post Office. The film largely anticipates Rothstein's assignment. Produced before his arrival, it documents many of the same people Rothstein would later photograph. It also tells a story that Rothstein is silent on.