Documenting Social Issues in New Deal Style

The Impact of the WPA on 1930s Photographers and Photojournalists—Is Roosevelt's Program Relevant Today?

A photograph of “Broke Traveler” provides information about the economic circumstances of some people in America today. Photo by Matthew Bamberg

Editorial Note: This story includes sensitive real-life photos that might disturb some readers.

Imagine if a U.S. president created a program to employ photographers to document the social conditions in today's America—focusing on issues like homelessness, poverty, and abandoned properties across the country. Such a program would mirror the Works Progress Administration (WPA) of the 1930s, which empowered photographers to capture the struggles of the Great Depression. As a researcher and professional photographer, I have extensively explored photography's role in documenting social issues from multiple perspectives. Documenting social conditions during the Great Depression of the 1930s was one of many New Deal government programs initiated by The Farm Security Administration (FSA).

Photographers were hired for their skills to travel around the U…