Curriculum Materials: Art in America
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Image 21 Dorothea Lange Questions: |
Social-Documentary Photography
During the Depression, many writers, photographers, and other artists felt an obligation to document the realities of daily life. Their commitment to change social conditions through art gave birth to a new art form called social documentary. Recognizing the camera's power to capture immediate images, many photographers used their MEDIUM to document in graphic detail the effects of unemployment, labor unrest, and drought.
The federal government also recognized the effectiveness
of photography as a tool for social change and employed
photographers in some of its programs. Among the many new
agencies established by Franklin Roosevelt was the
Resettlement Administration, later renamed the Farm Security
Administration (FSA). Created in 1935, the program was
intended to bring financial aid to thousands of rural
workers forced to leave their farms. The FSA's Historic
Section hired 11 photographers to document the workers'
plight. These photographers produced nearly 270,000 images
that helped enlist congressional and public support for
relief projects.
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