Dorothea Lange New Deal funded FSA Photography I answered a couple of phonecalls today at my internship that rather upset me. They were about the stimulus bill and one person said that they did not support funding art. I did my job and made no comment but I'm going to now.
Two disclaimers. One I'm not an artist of any sort nor do I possess any talent for it. I like pretty things and I appreciate other people's talent and other people's appreciation and respect for others talents. Secondly, regardless about how anyone feels about the stimulus package on principle and historically support for the arts have been a good thing.
During the Great Depression the Work Progress Administration put money in to roads, bridges, schools, libraries, parks and other facilities - many of which you can still see in your communities today because of the quality and workmanship. 
The Federal Writer's Project employed journalist, novelists, and poets to ggather oral and local histories and create guide books for communities. Many of the narratives of slaves is because of the this New Deal program. 
Photographs taken by Farm Security Administration workers are some of the most recognizable and emotional recordings of the Great Depression.When this person called today what I really wanted to tell them what FDR had said when he was asked about federally funding the arts (like me he was a simple person who was not artisy) - artists need to eat too.
Great post! I took History of Photography in college and I studied all of these pictures so thank you for posting them!
ReplyDeletegood historical photographs...interesting to read..
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