An extraordinary number of events converged in the United States across one of the most trying decades in its history— 1930-1940— commonly referred to as “The Great Depression.” As a photographer, the emerging standards of documentary practice that grow directly from this period influenced me deeply. As a writer, the works of non-fiction have also influenced my sense of what is genuine and real.

Researching the period, I have found that the sense of convergence that I had long subscribed to was illusory. Part of this is caused by the tendency to define moments of crisis by inscribing them on the actions of a handful of “great men” responsible for change. Most studies of this time have been narrowly focused on individual writers or photographers, or individual “movements” and rhetorics, such as that of Roosevelt’s New Deal. What is lost is the true sense of the genealogy of representative practice— the network of influences and responses caused by major works of the period which crosses all disciplinary boundaries, extending deeply into the years that preceded The Great Depression.

This website is an attempt to collate my research into a hypertextual form to better contextualize the relationships of these events and modes of practice. It will remain in a constant state of being “under construction” as I uncover new events, texts, and people to consider. It is an outline, not a completed work in any sense. It is meant to interrogate what I have found, not to resolve it into any sort of neat taxonomy. New indexes will be added as the points of convergence establish themselves, and more informative sub-pages will be created as the research continues.

Jeff Ward, December 2002