Camera as social commentary: Depression era photojournalism as a lens for American values

• In Event: Hope and Fear: Technology as Substance and Means for Discourses of American Identity

Abstract

The advent of photography both transformed and reified the ethos of American journalism that had come to be in the late nineteenth century. Though distrusted and reviled by some, this visual technology held the promise of enabling truly objective accounts of American life. The social and economic crisis of the Depression, however, tested the American value structure and concomitantly precipitated a form of photojournalism that did more than depict: it offered a social commentary on our very way of life. In so doing, Depression-era photojournalism provided the boundaries of the moral life and the core of the character traits that would define American identity for several ensuing decades. This paper will examine photojournalism’s role in the profession of journalism and in the larger society and will discuss the moral attributes by which Americans understood their identity, especially with regard to aspects of work and family life.

Author

• Peggy Bowers, Clemson University