Emotional and Economic Depression: The Great Depression
             The Great Depression was the worst economic slump in the history of the United States, and one which spread all over the industrialized world. Two pictures, taken by photographer Dorthea Lange, of a migrant worker and her children give a moving image of what the Great Depression was like in the 1920's. These pictures are very similar; the first is from a distance and the second is a close up. Two pictures of the same subject can be judged very differently. Background in these particular pictures tells a lot to the reader. The first picture is more moving than the second because it shows the background detail, the children's faces, and a very aggravated look on the mother's face.
             The background detail is a very important element to this picture. It shows an empty dish on an old crate. The dish shows the lack of food and perhaps the lack of money during this time period. The empty dish alone is a very touching detail in this picture. A lantern along with the shelter constructed of some tree branches and an old, rugged looking tarp gives the image of a poor family not able to even afford a decent place to live. This is a horrible way for children and even adults to live with little food, shelter, and clothes.
             The empty and dry looking fields of the first picture show that there are no farming crops around. In the 1920's some industries, agriculture in particular, declined steadily. The empty fields also reveal that buildings are rare and maybe even nonexistent. Paul Gusmorino stated in "Main Causes of the Great Depression" that during World War I the federal government had subsidized farms and paid absurdly high
             prices for wheat and other grains. The government also encouraged farmers to buy more land, to modernize their methods with the latest in farm technology, and to produce more food. The second picture shows no background det...