Country Store, 1939

Colorized by Jordan J. Lloyd
based on an original safety negative by Dorothea Lange
License this Image

• Collectible giclée fine art print;
• Hand-printed in England, with individual embossing;
• Ships with a Certificate of Authenticity;
• Guaranteed archival quality for over a century;
• Each sale directly supports the artisan;
• Global shipping available;
• Listed dimensions include a white border for easy framing

ABOUT THIS IMAGE

Taken July 1939, Gordonton, North Carolina, United States
(Library of Congress)

"A group of tobacco farmhands enjoy a drink on a Sunday in one America's most iconic photographs. Rayney Baynes, standing in the doorway is covering for his brother Ivey who would shortly pass away a few months after this photograph was taken. The Rural Electricity Administration provided the electricity box as part of Roosevelt's New Deal, which meant the drinks were actually ice cold, a rare treat. In a deeply segregated America, it is refreshing to see both black and white Americans enjoying each others' company, no doubt a product of the Baynes brothers' service in the US armed services, where they both served with black American soldiers in World War 1. Ivey Baynes, not pictured, served upon the USS Arizona, which went on to be destroyed the Japanese at Pearl Harbour, launching the United States into World War 2. Within two years, Dorothea Lange would be documenting the internment of Japanese Americans as a result of Pearl Harbour.

Hands down, this one of the most time consuming and well-researched images I've done to date, sampling from a few contemporary photos of the store taken two years ago. I've seen a lot of different colourised versions floating around, in my version of this iconic image, I've tried to find originals of every single sign where possible off auction sites, collectables and in one case, a specialist soda pop retailer."

– Jordan J. Lloyd

This historical photograph has been meticulously researched and rendered into colour from a black and white original by a skilled artisan, continuing a craft tradition that has existed since photography began.