HOW TO DECONSTRUCT PHOTOGRAPHS / OR / SEE FROM A PHOTOJOURNALIST'S PERSPECTIVE
The Great Depression
* source documents, including images that illustrate the effects of the Great
Depression. Some examples may include:
− drought on the prairies
− breadlines or soup kitchens
• Ask students to jot down their impressions
based on the images and in response to focus
questions such as
− What do the images/documents show?
− What do they reveal about the time period
and how people lived?
− How do the images demonstrate a change
from the previous time period?
• As a class, discuss student impressions,
focussing on how these images are different
from student perceptions of the “roaring ’20s.”
• In pairs, have students theorize what could
have caused such a dramatic shift from the
1920s to the situation portrayed in the primary
source documents. Discuss student suggestions
and explanations as a class.
RESOURCES
America from the Great Depression to World War II: Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1935-1945
More than 160,000 black and white and 1600
color photographs from the Farm Security Administration - Office of War
Information collection have been digitized. Includes scenes of rural
and small-town life, migrant labor, the effects of the Great Depression, and mobilization for World War II.
Walker Evans Revolutionizes Documentary Photography
This is a "study of the great
American photographer, Walker Evans, with comparison with other Farm
Security Administration photographers, Dorothea Lange, Russell Lee, and
Arnold Rothstein."
Dust Bowl Days
Lesson plans for teaching students about the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression "through photographs, songs and interviews with people who lived through the Dust Bowl."
