Ordinary Americans during the Great Depression of the 1930s

The Great Depression of the 1930s was an era of such extreme poverty and dramatic economic decline that it remains permanently etched on our collective psyche. One major reason for the lasting impression made by the most widespread and deepest depression of the 20th century is that it coincided with the growth of photography as an art form and the period was well-documented as a result. One of the most famous American photographers documenting the era was Walker Evans, whose beautiful and sometimes haunting photographs captured such detail and emotion that the subjects feel more alive and closer to the present than the past.