Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art

About this Work

In 1935 the Farm Security Administration was established to provide government assistance to struggling farmers during the Great Depression. It included a special team of documentary photographers. Although the most familiar FSA images feature unemployed migrants, many of the pictures depict happy, successful workers. The latter were meant to encourage public support for the agency’s activities and to sow how well the New Deal’s economic programs were working.

The images on sides 2 and 3 demonstrate how Standard Oil used documentary photos to address a public relations problem (allegations of price fixing). In addition to recording the production and uses of oil-based products, the photos created positive associations with ideas such as strength, prosperity, and community.


Pre-2016 Label:
Marion Post Wolcott - Farmers unloading their tobacco from their trailer to the baskets the night before auction sale in Hughes warehouse, Danville, Virginia - Gelatin silver print - Virginia