Why Is Photography Important In The 1930s

possibility of taking a moment and saving it forever is spectacular. Photography has been invented by many different people and many cultures but the first one to succeed with a photograph was Nicéphore Niépce in the 1820’s. Even though it wasn't like the photography we know today and it took several days of light exposure and the picture wasnt very clear, it was still a photograph. He was the first one to have a successful picture even though many attempted such as Thomas Wedgwood. The difference between his picture and Nicéphore Niépce and Thomas was that Thomas used silver nitrate while Nicephore used silver chloride. The technology of a photograph was

Famous photographs of The Great Depression era taken by photographers such as Rothstein and Post Walcott, are now part of history and help many understand what it would have been like to experience The Great Depresssion. Photographers like Rothstein and Post Walcott began to take many different photgraphs in different places to try and depict how the United States was during The Great Depression era, photographs taken during this that are now widely known and have been seen by many through the ages. Many photographs taken were of Gee’s Bend, Alabama which portrayed life in a community made up of mostly african americans. There is wide variety of photographs taken at Gee’s Bend during different years, which can showsome substantial differences

I glance amusedly at the photo placed before me. The bright and smiling faces of my family stare back me, their expressions depicting complete happiness. My mind drifted back to the events of the day that the photo was taken. It was Memorial Day and so, in the spirit of tradition my large extended family had gathered at the grave of my great grandparents. The day was hot and I had begged my mother to let me join my friends at the pool. However, my mother had refused. Inconsolable, I spent most of the day moping about sulkily. The time came for a group picture and so my grandmother arranged us all just so and then turned to me saying, "You'd better smile Emma or you'll look back at this and never forgive yourself." Eager to please and

Depression as it was able to help gain support for the New Deal's rural programs. Also, the

Dorothea Lange started taking photographs so she could document the misery of the American lower class. Lange wanted to make the lower class more visible so that she could encourage others to help. Dorothea Lange remained loyal to her principles by taking direct, unmanipulated footage of the social issues that were going on during the Great Depression. Lange tried to capture the image, but was more interested in the feeling and moods behind the image and the underlying connotation of the pictures. Lange’s main goal was to present her project to society in the true form that she observed the conditions and by this she wanted the portraits to reveal a deep understanding and sympathy towards her fellow human beings.

This picture that was taken by photographer Dorothea Lange is very reminiscent of another artist that I viewed a documentary on. This is the chief reason, among many, why I picked this picture out of the thousands in our book. The documentary touched on many aspects of photography in the depression. Such as the fact that the people in these pictures are not trained actors or models, the subject of these pictures are just regular people that were suffering in the depression. The picture does not have any vibrant colors in it, which also puts emphasis on the despair of the people in the picture. Another feature of this picture that caught my attention was that that the kids in the picture were looking away or were hard to notice, while the mother’s

During the 1930’s the federal government was the largest source of funds to artist through public art programs. This funding allowed the government to suppress certain subjects that were occurring on society at the time. An area the government suppressed art subject matter involved labor disputes that were occurring through the country. In the 1930’s an important issue that was taking public stage was workers attempting to unionize to better working conditions. In the 1930’s the labor force attempting to unionize faced a “unified opposition from a combination of industry and government forces” (pg.413) The federal government was able to suppress many painting showing this subject, but some artist were able to incorporate the topic into

John Szarkowski, a photographer and director of the Department of Photography of the Museum of Modern Art. Not only that, but based on the reading he’s also critic. Throughout the years Szarkowski had influence many American photographers, a forward thinker person who at that time had control of the art institution change photographer’s point of view. He taught American photographers how to look at photographs, from proving representations of the world, to making a story real, and to unique angles and perspective through photography.

Dorothea Lange was patient with her photography. She wanted to capture the hardships and pain the migrant Mexican labor farm workers were experiencing. When Lange saw something she want to photograph, she would quietly take her camera and capture the moment. But when she saw that they objected or tense up like people do when they take a picture, she would put away her camera and not take the picture. Lange would then wait until the workers were used to her. In all of her photographs she took, not one of the individuals were posed. She wanted to capture the truth of what it was like in the rural part of the depression. So Dorothea Lange took pictures of the rural places of California instead of the big cities.

“Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still” said Dorothea Lange. This quote is shown to be true in the time of the Dust Bowl and Great Depression and is captured by all the breathtaking photographs that were taken during this struggling time. In the 1930s large dust storms began to occur due to severe drought and farming techniques. During this time millions of tons of topsoil were moved (Cox). This impacted hundreds of thousands of farmers in the great plain region. Unfortunately, the conditions left the farmers with little choice and many of them had to foreclose on their homes

The Great Depression was the darkest and longest economic downfall in America. Americans faced daily hardships to provide for their families. Between the years 1929 and 1939, Americans have been documented in the form of photography, living in the horrid conditions that had become their everyday life. Here are some examples.

The initial style photos were made between the 1850s and 1860s, to report design for Parisian style houses. Reproduction in design diaries happened much later, between 1881 (with the development of the halftone printing process by Frederic Eugene Ives) and 1886 (when the refinement of the procedure made it fiscally practicable). This leap forward made it conceivable to imitate photos and offer to a huge gathering of people through the medium of the printed page.

Although her work was unrecognized and overlooked until after she was deceased, Lee Miller was one of the most influential photographers throughout history. After a long career, which seemed unsuccessful at the time, Lee retired feeling defeated and uncompensated for her hard work. Her work finally received the recognition that it deserved after her son found her negatives while going through her things after her death. Her work greatly reflects upon the historic importance of her time period although going under noticed, as well as continuing to be an influence to our current time period. Her highly influential and historic work continues to grow in popularity and serve as a way to step back in time for anyone that wishes to see into the world that existed during World War II.

Photography has been around for a long time and there are many people who have contributed to the discipline. There are two individuals from different generations who have made a huge contribution in how the field is regarded. The first person I want to talk about who had a big influence on the photography community was a Harlem Renaissance street photographer James Van Der Zee. He captured the life, culture, fashion and daily life during this vibrant era (Biography.com). Van Der Zee first started to develop a passion for photography at a young age taking pictures for his high school. At the age of 30 Van Der Zee’s photography became more than a hobby; it blossomed into a lifelong career. During this period he spent time developing skills in darkroom studios and soon opened his own office, which was called Guarantee Photo. He eventually renamed his workplace GGG Studio, after his second wife, Gaynella Greenlee (Biography.com). During the 1920’s and 30’s Van Der Zee focused his efforts on photographing the people of Harlem including all

Pictures often resemble events and allow us to look back at them but at the same time they can violate the scene they are capturing. The generally accepted birth year of photography is 1839, where it was introduced commercially. It symbolized a new wave of evidence and distortion. Photographs allows us to revisit moments in time that have already occurred, so they provide evidence to what has already passed. Photographs can also tamper with the scene they are capturing, because they can be edited and the process of taking the photograph has a tint of bias to it. Seeing is supposed to be believing but can we really believe everything that we see? Do photographs support our experiences or do they only hinder them?