What do you think?
Rate this book
New Deal Photography: USA 1935–1943
Another country: How the Farm Security Administration introduced America to Americans
Amid the ravages of the Great Depression, the United States Farm Security Administration (FSA) was first founded in 1935 to address the country s rural poverty. Its efforts focused on improving the lives of sharecroppers, tenants, and very poor landowning farmers, with resettlement and collectivization programs, as well as modernized farming methods. In a parallel documentation program, the FSA hired a number of photographers and writers to record the lives of the rural poor and introduce America to Americans.
This book records the full reach of the FSA program from 1935 to 1943, honoring its vigor and commitment across subjects, states, and stylistic preferences. The photographs are arranged into four broad regional sections but otherwise allowed to speak for themselves to provide individual impressions as much as they cumulatively build an indelible survey of a nation. Through color and black-and-white images, we meet convicts, cotton workers, kids on the street, and relocated workers on the road. We see subjects victim to the elements of nature and the timeless rituals of human life, as much as to the vagaries of the global economic market. We meet Dorothea Lange s iconic Migrant Mother, weather-beaten and worn, with two children leaning on her shoulders.
What unites all of the pictures is a commitment to the individuality and dignity of each subject, as much as to the witness they bear to this particular period of the American past and to universal cycles of growing, playing, eating, aging, ailing, and dying. Through the lenses of such perceptive, sensitive photographers as Dorothea Lange, Jack Delano, Russell Lee, Marion Post Wolcott, Walker Evans, and Ben Shahn, subjects are entrenched in the hardships of their historical lot, caught in the loop of humanity, and yet face the viewer with what is utterly their own: a unique, irreplaceable, often unforgettable presence.
About the series:
Bibliotheca Universalis Compact cultural companions celebrating the eclectic TASCHEN universe at an unbeatable, democratic price!
Since we started our work as cultural archaeologists in 1980, the name TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible, open-minded publishing. Bibliotheca Universalis brings together nearly 100 of our all-time favorite titles in a neat new format so you can curate your own affordable library of art, anthropology, and aphrodisia.
Bookworm s delight never bore, always excite!
Text in English, French, and German"
Amid the ravages of the Great Depression, the United States Farm Security Administration (FSA) was first founded in 1935 to address the country s rural poverty. Its efforts focused on improving the lives of sharecroppers, tenants, and very poor landowning farmers, with resettlement and collectivization programs, as well as modernized farming methods. In a parallel documentation program, the FSA hired a number of photographers and writers to record the lives of the rural poor and introduce America to Americans.
This book records the full reach of the FSA program from 1935 to 1943, honoring its vigor and commitment across subjects, states, and stylistic preferences. The photographs are arranged into four broad regional sections but otherwise allowed to speak for themselves to provide individual impressions as much as they cumulatively build an indelible survey of a nation. Through color and black-and-white images, we meet convicts, cotton workers, kids on the street, and relocated workers on the road. We see subjects victim to the elements of nature and the timeless rituals of human life, as much as to the vagaries of the global economic market. We meet Dorothea Lange s iconic Migrant Mother, weather-beaten and worn, with two children leaning on her shoulders.
What unites all of the pictures is a commitment to the individuality and dignity of each subject, as much as to the witness they bear to this particular period of the American past and to universal cycles of growing, playing, eating, aging, ailing, and dying. Through the lenses of such perceptive, sensitive photographers as Dorothea Lange, Jack Delano, Russell Lee, Marion Post Wolcott, Walker Evans, and Ben Shahn, subjects are entrenched in the hardships of their historical lot, caught in the loop of humanity, and yet face the viewer with what is utterly their own: a unique, irreplaceable, often unforgettable presence.
About the series:
Bibliotheca Universalis Compact cultural companions celebrating the eclectic TASCHEN universe at an unbeatable, democratic price!
Since we started our work as cultural archaeologists in 1980, the name TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible, open-minded publishing. Bibliotheca Universalis brings together nearly 100 of our all-time favorite titles in a neat new format so you can curate your own affordable library of art, anthropology, and aphrodisia.
Bookworm s delight never bore, always excite!
Text in English, French, and German"
605 pages, Hardcover
Published May 23, 2016
8 people are currently reading
128 people want to read
About the author
Peter Walther
21 books3 followersPeter Walther is a German scholar and literary historian.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
November 3, 2025
الصور ف الكتاب متنوعة بين الأبيض والأسود ول مصورين مختلفين
ف فترة الثلاثينات والأربعينات ف أماكن مختلفة ف امريكا ولكن الصور كلها لناس فقيرة وفلاحين 😅
هصور الكتاب وانزله ع قناة "عن الفن" لو حد مهتم 👇
@3nelfn
وبصور الكتب اللي يستعرها من المكتبة وبنزلها ع انستجرام 👇
@mai.designer92
ف فترة الثلاثينات والأربعينات ف أماكن مختلفة ف امريكا ولكن الصور كلها لناس فقيرة وفلاحين 😅
هصور الكتاب وانزله ع قناة "عن الفن" لو حد مهتم 👇
@3nelfn
وبصور الكتب اللي يستعرها من المكتبة وبنزلها ع انستجرام 👇
@mai.designer92
April 10, 2020
Beautiful and important book with context for today's times.
March 20, 2022
Completing book #14 in my 2022 personal reading challenge was fairly easy as it is photography book. Entitled "New Deal Photography" and published by Taschen (purchased and read in hard copy), it features some 400+ photographs from more than a dozen photographers who were employed by the Resettlement Administration, renamed the Farm Security Administration, which was eventually folded into the Office of War Information after the United States entered World War II.
The assignment of the photographers hired by Resettlement Administration/FSA was fairly straightforward: to document the people, places, and life across the country in the face of the Great Depression and the work underway to address it. They were encouraged to be photojournalists (though I doubt that term existed in popular culture too much before them) and not to slant or propagandize works, even if they were to be practice what is termed as participatory documentary work -- meaning that they could interact with the people they were photographing and take "posed" images but not constructed or manipulated circumstances.
The books contains several world famous images, such as Migrant Mother by Dorothea Lange and Dust Storm by Arthur Rothstein, and a scant few stories about the images. The bulk of the reading behind the introduction and photographer biographies are through captions. Among the artists featured, Lange, whom I've studied a bit myself, provided the most detailed. The copy appears longer because the publishers repeated all text in both German and French for readers.
I found the book abundant in critical, meaningful images documenting the years of about 1935 through around 1946, which an emphasis on 1937-1942. There are high resolution and well curated by the area of the country covered. Quotes and small stories by the photographers emphasized the impact that the work had on them and reiterated the idea that while they were often documenting the abject poverty and poor living conditions of Americans, none of the artists did so with either pity or disrespect. Words repeated across participants involve the dignity and pride as well as diversity of Americans across the country regardless of their desperate or despairing circumstances.
Despite that acknowledgement, it is worth noting that the majority of photographs of Black Americans from these years chosen from the more than 23,000 images captured by these FSA photographers were taken primarily by Black photographer and artist Gordon Parks and a few women, most notably Lange. An occasional image of a Black American taken by a white male photographer was included. Obviously, there are a variety of reasons for this ranging from the social constructs and racism to the possible mistrust white photographers. Even rarer are images of Jewish Americans and the Japanese internment camps. I know from other sources that Lange was hired to photography the latter, but her refusal to do in a way that supported the OWI narrative got her fired from the gig.
As for the book, the exploration of the photographs in a comprehensive order (location then year) and details about the various photographers made it well worth the sale price and read. I would appreciate more narrative context and feel certain there must be some in the Library of Congress, which owns/manages the photographs at this point. The color photographs included from the late 1930s and early 1940s are always a "show stopper" for me as we've become so used to see historic imagery of these periods in black and white.
If you haven't had a pre-existing fascination with this era of American history and consumed massive qualities of information about it and some of the photographers featured in this book, it is a good introduction and the photography is more than worth your time and money.
The assignment of the photographers hired by Resettlement Administration/FSA was fairly straightforward: to document the people, places, and life across the country in the face of the Great Depression and the work underway to address it. They were encouraged to be photojournalists (though I doubt that term existed in popular culture too much before them) and not to slant or propagandize works, even if they were to be practice what is termed as participatory documentary work -- meaning that they could interact with the people they were photographing and take "posed" images but not constructed or manipulated circumstances.
The books contains several world famous images, such as Migrant Mother by Dorothea Lange and Dust Storm by Arthur Rothstein, and a scant few stories about the images. The bulk of the reading behind the introduction and photographer biographies are through captions. Among the artists featured, Lange, whom I've studied a bit myself, provided the most detailed. The copy appears longer because the publishers repeated all text in both German and French for readers.
I found the book abundant in critical, meaningful images documenting the years of about 1935 through around 1946, which an emphasis on 1937-1942. There are high resolution and well curated by the area of the country covered. Quotes and small stories by the photographers emphasized the impact that the work had on them and reiterated the idea that while they were often documenting the abject poverty and poor living conditions of Americans, none of the artists did so with either pity or disrespect. Words repeated across participants involve the dignity and pride as well as diversity of Americans across the country regardless of their desperate or despairing circumstances.
Despite that acknowledgement, it is worth noting that the majority of photographs of Black Americans from these years chosen from the more than 23,000 images captured by these FSA photographers were taken primarily by Black photographer and artist Gordon Parks and a few women, most notably Lange. An occasional image of a Black American taken by a white male photographer was included. Obviously, there are a variety of reasons for this ranging from the social constructs and racism to the possible mistrust white photographers. Even rarer are images of Jewish Americans and the Japanese internment camps. I know from other sources that Lange was hired to photography the latter, but her refusal to do in a way that supported the OWI narrative got her fired from the gig.
As for the book, the exploration of the photographs in a comprehensive order (location then year) and details about the various photographers made it well worth the sale price and read. I would appreciate more narrative context and feel certain there must be some in the Library of Congress, which owns/manages the photographs at this point. The color photographs included from the late 1930s and early 1940s are always a "show stopper" for me as we've become so used to see historic imagery of these periods in black and white.
If you haven't had a pre-existing fascination with this era of American history and consumed massive qualities of information about it and some of the photographers featured in this book, it is a good introduction and the photography is more than worth your time and money.
May 24, 2018
Gee, can you say you "read" a book that was mostly pictures?
Actually the written part was quite good, stimulating me to learn more about these photographers and that era. And, of course the photos are worth a thousand words.
Actually the written part was quite good, stimulating me to learn more about these photographers and that era. And, of course the photos are worth a thousand words.
April 15, 2021
Every photograph tells a story of hardship and hope. Harrowing.
February 18, 2025
Lo venden (y se estudia) como si fuera la panacea, pero cuesta creer que gastaran siete años en producir este trabajo. En muchas fotografías, los protagonistas posan o interactúan con la cámara, signo de que no se invierte el tiempo suficiente con ellos. Hay una parte no pequeña de las fotografías que están técnicamente mal hechas.
Se salvan algunas imágenes de Dorothea Lange y Russell Lee, los únicos capaces de combinar el sentido documental del proyecto con una mirada artística individual. En la mayor parte del libro se respira espíritu de funcionario.
En definitiva, una obra absurdamente sobrevalorada por consumidores sin criterio que repiten lo que dice otro que llegó antes, y así durante décadas.
Se salvan algunas imágenes de Dorothea Lange y Russell Lee, los únicos capaces de combinar el sentido documental del proyecto con una mirada artística individual. En la mayor parte del libro se respira espíritu de funcionario.
En definitiva, una obra absurdamente sobrevalorada por consumidores sin criterio que repiten lo que dice otro que llegó antes, y así durante décadas.
January 1, 2025
Amazing and compelling collection of photography, from hard times in the USA, before I was born. Seems a foreign land to me, but with full expression of humanity, people trying to manage. Each picture was snapped mid story, leaving room to imagine how the characters made it to there and to where they would carry on.
January 17, 2026
Powerful photos and narrative chronicling the effects of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl years on the lives of individuals and the shape of government. I learned a great deal from the text and felt the power of peoples' lives through the pictures by some of the best photographers of the era. In the end I came away inspired by what our government did to help people; what's possible.
January 16, 2023
Me encanto, aprendí mucho de la época de la gran depresión y como esta afectó a los estados unidos.
Mi fotógrafa favorita definitivamente es Dorothea, ame su trabajo a tal punto que le hice un tablero en pinterest!!
Mi fotógrafa favorita definitivamente es Dorothea, ame su trabajo a tal punto que le hice un tablero en pinterest!!
March 20, 2023
I bought "New Deal Photography" on something of a whim, and I don't regret it.
While I wish there were more explanations about the New Deal, its effects, and the people it affected, the photography in itself is powerful and paints an image of a migrant, poverty-stricken world trying to go on.
While I wish there were more explanations about the New Deal, its effects, and the people it affected, the photography in itself is powerful and paints an image of a migrant, poverty-stricken world trying to go on.
January 6, 2017
Much great photography otherwise not easily available. I bought this as a gift for a friend, so getting to read it was a bonus.
August 16, 2017
Vibrant historical documents, with some things of beauty and sorrow.
November 1, 2017
Encore un superbe livre de Taschen trilingue qui nous explique la genèse du projet "New deal photography".
Un superbe ouvrage agrémenté d'annecdotes des photographes aujourd'hui mondialement connus.
Un superbe ouvrage agrémenté d'annecdotes des photographes aujourd'hui mondialement connus.
November 18, 2017
Absolutely beautiful book about the struggles of people in the USA during the New Deal Era... Truly meaningful. It shows us how far we have gone and still must go as a nation.
February 27, 2020
Lets you dive right into poverty stricken America, after the Great Depression, with stunning pictures and quality printing.
March 8, 2020
Ok, The book is very tiny. I wish it were BIGGER. But the pictures are amazing and the new deal photography is maybe the best photography ever made so there's that.
July 2, 2018
My photography lecturer recommended it, my art history lecturer gave it to me as a congratulations present.
Need I say more?
p.s. I always knew it as 'Documentary Photography".
Need I say more?
p.s. I always knew it as 'Documentary Photography".
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews