Airplane spraying chemicals on a lettuce field.   Save
Joe Munroe Archive
Description: In the years following World War II, airplanes were used to spray fields with chemicals like herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers, which led to an increase in farm production and crop yields. In the 1970s, as the environmental movement took root, there was evidence of the overuse of chemicals, and a more disciplined use of chemicals was called for. Joe Munroe expertly captures a plane in action in Salinas, California, in this 1970 photograph. Munroe's career began in 1939 at the Cranbrook Academy of Art. He served in the Air Force during World War II and then joined Cincinnati-based Farm Quarterly magazine. Though raised in Detroit, agriculture became an important subject of Joe's photographs. He moved to California in 1955 and free-lanced, taking magazine assignments and selling his own work. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: P400_B04_F01_001
Subjects: Joe Munroe; Agricultural technologies; Farms; Agricultural equipment; Aerial views
Places: Salinas (California)