What is the great depression?
The Great Depression, occurred on the 29 October 1929, the day the stock market crashed. The great depression made the stock prices plummet and it had no hope of recovery. This led to many becoming bankrupted. Banks became under threat as people gathering all their money which led them in to bankruptcy and people who never maid it to the bank in time also became bankrupt.
Many people tried to sell what they owned such as live stock, but no one was buying because they had no money.
stock market which was always known for being rich, quickly came in to bankruptcy.
Depression have been around before, but not like this one. In the past farmers was extremely safe, living of their live stock and finding ways of feeding them selves. Unfortunately this depression known as 'the great depression', they were hit by drought and dust storms. This created The Dust Bowl.
What is The Dust Bowl...
'It was the worst man-made ecological disaster in American History.'
The dust bowl is basically, a drought. A drought which lasted for many years, covering thousand of acres. Destroying crops, live stock and land, turning it into dust. It was a man-made disaster which led to many people being bankrupted and starving, and families not being able to feed themselves. Men, women and children battling to survive. Many people took to the roads trying to find somewhere with new opportunities where they could build their new lives.
Photography played an important role in the Dust Bowl, documenting families and their situations.
Photographers not only wanted to show other of their situations but also to find out how much the camera could portray.
Photography played an important role in the Dust Bowl, documenting families and their situations.
Photographers not only wanted to show other of their situations but also to find out how much the camera could portray.
Photography in the great depression ?
The Dust bowl is still known today in word and in photos thanks to photographers such as Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange.
Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans were hired to document the work of an agency and also to record the life in small towns, towns which were hit hard by the great depression. During this time they had taken many photos such as some below and they also created their most famous piece of work too. For Dorothea Lange this was 'the migrant mother' and for Walker Evans this was '....'
Walker Evans
Starving Cuban Family, 1933.
Sharecropper's Family, Hale County, Alabama, 1935
Alabama Cotton Tenant Farmers Wife (Allie Mae Burroughs), 1936
Bud Fields, Cotton Sharecropper, Hale Country, Alabama, 1936.
In the Depression years were the start of walker Evans productivity and accomplishments. This was when he created his most memorable and famous pieces. He was assigned to document the small towns in the great depression and how the federal government was trying to improve many of the communities.
When it came to Evans working, he paid a personal need to the American life, from the simple and ordinary. He photographed many during his time, such as roadside architecture, small town barbers and cemeteries.
From the pictures shared in books, magazines, the 1930 the great depression shows iconic images, and now they are known in the visual history of the depression.
Walker Evans was known for my pieces of work but his most famous one was...
This portrait was Evans most famous portrait. When looking at the image he jaw bones match the background, showing the sharp, strong lines with its premature ageing. In this photos Evans decided to shoot her face on. This could demonstrate that there wasn't any communication involved when setting it up, but she trusted him.
Migrant Children, playing at nursery school, FSA camp. Tulare.
The Arnold children, Michigan hill, Washington, 1939
Two Children and a wooden shack they call home.
Migrant Mother 1936.
Dorothea Lange started of her career photographing the rich society, and when the dust bowl arrived she found herself photographing them.
She created many photographs but her most famous on was called the Migrant mother (seen above).
when the dust bowl happened it was a shock and put as many as 14 million people out of work and struggling to survive in America. It was part of the worst man made disaster known in America.
Dorothea Lange's photos showed the sensitivity to body gesture and language.
photos like the ones about show the way the people's bodies are bent and out of shape.
She noticed that all of the people who worked in the city kept themselves to themselves where as the migrant people were a talkative.
Lange quoted ' migrant camps are always talkative'.
Langes most famous picture to date of the dust bowl, is of the migrant mother...
This picture shows a hungry farm worker family living in conditions which are not extremely pleasant. When taking this photo there was originally another child, a teenage daughter with them, but Lange decided not to include her in the photo. Lange got the children to turn their heads away from the camera, which allows the viewer to focus on the mothers facial expressions.
When it comes to the composition in the photography, she has thought about where the children's would be placed, the angle and expressions. The framing of the image with the two children's heads gave this pictures masterful composition that distinguishes every great photographer.
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