Russell Lee was an American photographer and photojournalist.

Lee had trained as a chemical engineer

Chemical engineer

In the field of engineering, a chemical engineer is the profession in which one works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of products, and deals with the design and operation of plants and equipment to perform such work...

, and in the fall of 1936 became a member of the team of photographers assembled under Roy Stryker

Roy Stryker

Roy Emerson Stryker was an American economist, government official, and photographer. He is most famous for heading the Information Division of the Farm Security Administration during the Great Depression and launching the documentary photography movement of the FSA.After serving in the infantry...

 for the federally sponsored Farm Security Administration

Farm Security Administration

Initially created as the Resettlement Administration in 1935 as part of the New Deal in the United States, the Farm Security Administration was an effort during the Depression to combat American rural poverty...

 documentation project. Lee is responsible for some of the iconic images produced by the FSA, including photographic studies of San Augustine, Texas

San Augustine, Texas

San Augustine is a city in San Augustine County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,475 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of San Augustine County and is situated in East Texas.-Geography:San Augustine is located at ....

 in 1939, and Pie Town, New Mexico

Pie Town, New Mexico

Pie Town is an unincorporated town on U.S. Route 60 in Catron County, New Mexico, United States. Its name comes from a dried-apple pie business that was established by Clyde Norman in the early 1920s. Pie Town hosts a Pie Festival on the second Saturday of each September...

 in 1940.

After the FSA was defunded in 1943, and after his own service in the Air Corps during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Lee continued to work under Stryker, producing public relations photographs for Standard Oil of New Jersey.