...photography played during the great depression. Roy Stryker and his team of photographers had a nearly impossible challenge to move and motivate an entire country. Their original job was to convince congress that the millions of displaced Americans desperately needed the government’s assistance. However this was a tough notion to sell to congress and the rest of Americans who were not living through the struggles themselves. There was a huge disconnect between the families affected by the depression and families that had made it through the depression unscathed. The photograph was used by Stryker and his team to document the reality of what was happening all over the American country side. They had to present it in such a way that it did not come across as propaganda. At the time Americans were fed up with the government’s propaganda following the war. The photographs took during this time were able to put a human face and emotion to the barren fields and deserted farms. Photos were used as a tool to communicate the truth and stories of millions of victims of the Great Depression. These iconic photos spoke more than a thousand words, they evoked emotions and understanding throughout the United States. These photos had the power to unite an entire nation. During this course, I examined many photos from the great depression. The one that hold the most powerful is the photo from Dorothea Lange called Migrant Mother. I truly feel like this photo sums up the real struggles of...
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...An Image of the Great Depression In 1929, one of the longest, most severe economic tragedies arose in the United States. After panic in Wall Street, many investors abandoned shares and others became worthless. The downturn ensued a decline in productions, and eventually a decline in employment and assets throughout the industrialized western world. Unemployment ratings reached a twenty-five percent average, one of the highest unemployment rates in North America. The economic slump, notably The Great Depression, steered the biggest stock market crash in worldwide history that changed things today as we know it. (Wheelock 4). While the Depression resulted in drastic declines in unemployment and acute deflation of several countries due to the...
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...minimal time in our daily spotlights. Although it is only talked about infinitesimally, most cannot refute the striking images taken during the Dust Bowl. One of these photos, The Dust Bowl, a photo with many striking characteristics which are derived by examining the image—first as a whole, then parts of the whole, and finally through its symbolic meaning....
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...Dorothea Lange was a photographer during The Great Depression. She was born May 26th, 1895 in Hoboken, New Jersey. She died October 11th, 1965 at the age of 70 in San Francisco, California. Dorothea’s real name was Dorothea Magaretta Nutzhorn. She dropped her middle name and took her mother’s maiden name because her dad left her and her family when she was only 12. That was one of her two traumatic events that occurred in her life. The other one was a contraction of polio when she was only 7 years old. It left her weakened at her right leg with a permanent limp. Dorothea was a pretty important person who took good pictures during the Great Depression. Lange was very educated in photography when she grew up. In 1918, she left New York with...
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...the reason why people see photos in a certain manner. By applying the terms discussed in the essay to the photos chosen for this paper, a better understanding of the ethical implications, photographer’s role, scopophilia, and independence of the photos arise. First, Mitchell emphasizes the role of the photographer in the time of capturing the moment. “The beholder, in turn, is presented with an uncomfortable question: is the political, epistemological power of these images a justification for the violence that accompanies their production?” (Mitchell 328). This question applies directly to both of the photos: the young boy carrying his dog through the monsoon flood waters in the Philippines...
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...Evans’ early photographs showcase how he was influenced by European modernism, specifically by its formality and emphasis on dynamic structures. However, he was gradually pulled away from this style and developed his own notions of realism, the spectator’s role in the photograph, and how ordinary objects relate to one another. During the years of 1935-1936 Ghani 2 during the depression, Evans was very productive and took many photographs, and he eventually accepted a job from the U.S. Department of the Interior to photograph a government-built resettlement community of unemployed West Virginian coal miners. He and the group he was in were assigned to take pictures to demonstrate how the government was helping during the Depression. Evans took photos of roadside architecture, small-town barbers, and cemeteries that revealed to people the deep respect for the neglected traditions of the common man. These images entered the collective consciousness of the American people and are now embedded as how we view the Depression in our minds. Walker Evans took many important photos throughout his career. Among the...
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...Dorothea Nutzhorn Lange was born in Hoboken, New Jersey on May 26, 1895. At the age of seven Dorothea was diagnosed with a crippling and deadly infectious disease called polio, which caused her to walk with a limp. Do to the fact that Dorothea’s father walked out on her and her family, she decided to keep her mother’s maiden name. After Dorothea finished high school she, continued her studies in New York City, where she decided to pursue in photography. After Dorothea took a few classes at New York Training School she decided to transferred to finish her degree at Columbia University. Dorothea Lange finished school and moved to San Francisco to opened up a portrait studio, where she quickly got known for her photographs. Dorothea married Maynard...
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...The photos referenced throughout the paper reveal the conditions experienced in multiple parts of Florida. They show prosperity and poverty, idleness and hard work existed almost side by side in Florida. In addition they show why the Federal relief programs were needed and that they were making progress. Looking at the photos can also reveal information about work, urbanization, race and agriculture in Florida. The photos of Baker, Florida are probably meant to highlight the economic problems in Florida during the 1920s. One photo shows a building that used to be a bank, but is now a barbershop. The descriptions that come with the photos describe Baker as a town that used to be prosperous until the railroad tracks were torn up. This is further...
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...You can tell by its name that this time period wasn’t a good one, the economy was trash just like the lives of migrant workers. It is no wonder that this time is now known as the Great Depression. The Great Depression took place during the late 1920’s /early 1930’s. The Great Depression was caused by the the Stock Market Crash of 1929 as well as the Dust Bowl. The Dust Bowl was a major sandstorm due to severe drought which lasted 9 years! The Dust Bowl stretched across Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico and even Texas. Without water and crops, farms would dry up allowing the wind to pick up all of the sand and soil. This caused food to become scarce and much more expensive. It is clear that raising a family in these conditions was nearly...
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...Perhaps it’s a shocking one from Vietnam, of the girl charred by napalm crying as she flees down the street. It might be the old battered image of the Soviet Soldier raising his flag in the smoldering ruins of Berlin over the Reichstag, marking the end of the bloodiest conflict mankind has ever endeavored to pursue. Or maybe it’s the one of the care-worn woman from the great depression, a great sadness hiding behind her tired eyes as she cradles her children. You don’t remember any of those photo above because they were instructional, because the taught you something. Seeing the girl doesn’t inform you of the vast biological effects napalm has on the human body, it coats you in feeling of terror and disgust at such vile act. You may not remember the exact numerical value of the human cost of the second world war, but the poignant lone Soviet Soldier, wrists adorned with looted watches, imprints its sheer brutality upon you. The economic cost of the great depression falls aside, because nothing will ever resonate as strongly as the despair that reaches out of the frame and takes hold of the reader when they see the look in that woman’s...
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...During the 1930s, Canada was impacted in a way unlike any other. This was known as The Great Depression; the economic downfall in Canada’s time. Dramatic rises in unemployment, debt, poverty, starvation, disease and death shook the nation. In response, government and business created barriers such as welfare and retirement pensions to help protect against similar consequences should any downturn occur again. Despite the benefits that developed after the Depression, many factors and events outweighed its positivity. The Great Depression resulted in negative consequences for Canada as it revealed discrimination in society, many had their rights and freedoms taken away and countless people experienced both physical and mental hardships during...
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...Journey: Florence Owens Thompson ʺI saw and approached the hungry and desperate mother, as if drawn by a magnet,” Dorothea Lange announced. “She told me her name, age and place of reason nothing else was spoken” Florence Owens Thompson was following in the horrible Great Depression, stuck at trying to raise seven children on nothing except frozen vegetables. Dorothea Lange’s iconic photograph “Migrant Mother in Nipomo, California, 1936” shows the terrible life of the unwealthy, and the troubles of a single mother stuck in the Pea Pickers camp. Dorothea Lange was driving home from a month-long photograph assignment when she passed Pea Pickers camp. Known as a terrible place, filled with dusty torn down buildings, dirty brown water; nothing to keep hopes up for. A camera by her side as she approaches Florence, silent blank minded, as she wonder’s up to the old blanked made shelter. The black and white photograph shows the older women in sharp contrast holding her newborn child with her two older children covered by her side. Florence Thompson was just trying to work to make enough money for her family before their vehicle had enough. James Curtis, editor of Eyewitness to History writes that the photo seems to be a “Image of a worn, weather-beaten woman, with a look of desperation on her face.” Upon closer inspection, the face of the 32 year-old woman seems to be old and tethered with a look of despair to find her way out (“Curtis”). Fig. I Dorothea Lange, Migrant...
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...analyze a photo taken in 1936, by photographer Dorothea Lange (Barnet and Bedau 165). The original title was “Destitute pea pickers in California. Mother of seven children. Age thirty-two. Nipomo, California.” The photo is also well known as “Migrant Mother” (PPOC). The photo captured me emotionally and this is why I chose it for my analysis. The photo is a portrait of a mother and three of her young children clinging to her as she stares pondering into the distance. Her mouth is slightly turned down in a frown, her children's faces are buried in her shoulders, and a baby laying in her lap. The look in her eyes is as if she does not even recognize her children are with her as she considers what will come of them. Her brow is heavily wrinkled with concern. Their clothes are torn, dirty, and tattered. The baby's face is covered in dirt as its eyes are closed. When looking closer at the baby one may ask, “Is it sleeping?” or “Has it passed away?” With the children's faces hidden one is only left to imagine if they are crying. Are they mourning the baby? Perhaps they are scared, like their mother, of what their fates will be. The photo was taken during the Great Depression. This was a time when many people in our country were homeless, hungry, and looking for work. I believe Lange was trying to capture the urgency of the situation. We see in her photo these tired, poor, and hungry people starving as they sit waiting for opportunity. Lange spoke about the photo in...
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...Not only does social media enhance cyberbullying but it also gives children unrealistic expectations. Everything we see on the internet is supposed to make us want to buy a certain item or make us think a certain way. When you scroll through the explore page on Instagram all you see are the swimsuit models who seem to have Victoria Secret Angels bodies, or the body builder men with abs and thick biceps. You never see heavier set people on there unless it is a meme or joke of some kind. You may also see that these thin females are always on the beach having a great time and all their photos are full of laughter and joy. Seeing these photos all the time on social media makes kids think that you are supposed to look the way that these men and...
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...I would describe this photo as a depiction of the hard struggles many families faced during the 1930s in the Dust Bowl. Families in the middle of the country experienced horrible dust storms that would harm people’s health and destroy crops. I chose a photo taken by Dorothea Lange that pictured a mom and her two kids living in the terrible conditions of the Dust Bowl. The two kids are sitting next to a tree on the ground, which has no grass on it, only dirt. Behind them is a tent that looks very torn, which is probably the family's home because many people could not afford it and did not have the materials to build a real house. The children and the mother both have tattered clothes and no shoes on their feet. I think the clothes are probably...
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