Hester Street

Sol Libsohn

ca. 1938

Photograph of people standing outside along stairwell and storefronts.
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Creator Bio

Sol Libsohn

1914–2001

The early documentary photographer Sol Libsohn was born in Harlem, the son of East European immigrants. Self-taught, he went to work for the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s, recording the lives of New Yorkers struggling during the Great Depression. In 1936, he was one of the cofounders of the Photo League, a group of left-wing photographers, most of whom were Jewish, who were committed to documenting everyday urban subjects and ordinary American lives.

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