Opening Day, "Searching for the Seventies: The DOCUMERICA Photography Project"

A new Smithsonian traveling exhibition, Searching for the Seventies: The DOCUMERICA Photography Project, takes a look at the ’70s using 90 remarkable color photographs taken for a federal photography project called Project DOCUMERICA (1971–1977). The exhibition opens its 15-city national tour at The Upcountry History Museum-Furman University.

Created by the Environmental Protection Agency, Project DOCUMERICA was born out of the decade’s environmental awakening, producing striking photographs of many of that era’s environmental problems and achievements. Drawing its inspiration from the Great Depression-era Farm Security Administration photography project, DOCUMERICA photographers created a portrait of America in the early and mid-’70s. Capturing a rapidly changing society with surprising resonances to the present, Searching for the Seventies: The DOCUMERICA Photography Project is a sampling of images culled from a trove of thousands. DOCUMERICA photos include expected images of smog, polluted rivers and waste dumps. But the photos also capture the decade’s fashions, trends and lifestyles. From smokestacks to leisure suits, these images are a fascinating time capsule of ’70s America.