This Documentary Photography Project on 'The American People' was funded in part by a series of Photography Fellowship Grants from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts to Alwyn Scott Turner.
The documentary portraits began in 1968 Detroit, Michigan, resulting in the
Detroit Portfolio and the publication in 1969 of the book Photograhs of the Detroit People. Since that time the project has continued in various locations of the United States and a substantial and comprehensive archive of images now exists as the project on The American People progresses into the millennium.

The purpose of this historical project on 'The American People' is to produce a historical portfolio of documentary portraits of ordinary and interesting people as unique individuals within a rapidly changing culture. To document people in a realistic, uncontrived and unposed view within their indigeniuous environment and in the timeframe of their own generation.

In order to accomplish this task Alwyn Scott Turner has been permanently
working on the the documentary project in various regions of America, residing or working in each region of the documentary series - and as a resident rather than visitor, his personal perspective intimately close to the unique identity and historical reality of the individuals living in each location. The resulting portfolio of images from each region represents a specific cultural period in America.

'THE AMERICAN PEOPLE' documentary archive consists of over 100,000 original negatives from which 750 images were chosen as the final master selection,
from which museum quality archival prints are printed.
The documentary archive consists of 11 black & white portfolios of 100 images each.
There is one Documentary Color Portfolio combined from all the regions,
and selections from that archive are made by special request.
The final selection of prints in 'THE AMERICAN PEOPLE' Master Portfolio
will consist of 250 prints for hardcover publication.