Saturday, August 4, 2012

Tarred and Feathered

I find this press photo--remarkably composed-- extraordinary.  It shows one Jack Green, sign painter and alleged Communist, after he was tarred and feathered by a 300-strong band of self-styled vigilantes in Santa Rosa, California, in August 1935.  According to the accompanying story, another man was likewise tarred; three others beaten up and 'ordered to leave the country.'  Green is seen here with his family 'shortly after he had removed tar applied by vigilantes.'

Can't get over the sheer expressiveness of the thing--the childrens' faces and bodies, the wife's tenderness, Jack's own stunned and pensive look.

Enlarge image to get all the human information here.