Photojournalism provides insight into history

The past several weeks, I've been exploring in this column programs born out of the Depression and the New Deal that not only gave men and women a sense of pride by having them work for an income, but also enhanced the beauty and in some cases the environment of our country.

Everyone has his or her own opinions about how far government should get involved in citizens' life, but there is little doubt that at the time such programs were a godsend.

The place where this exploration began was in researching for lessons in journalism, specifically photojournalism. It's amazing, what every teacher knows to be true, that you sometimes learn a great deal that you did not know while planning lessons. So it was that I discovered the programs that sent photographers into the field in the 1930s under the dual focus of documenting our depression and the efforts to recover from it, while providing gainful employment.

Certainly, in our age of instant and digital photography and information, it's easy to lose sight of a few realities.

It took major planning and creativity compared to our current access to digital photos that allows one to shoot randomly, then sort out images later. The Depression chronicler also had to know his or her way around a darkroom, especially since shooting took place in isolated areas where staff assistance would be non-existent.

If you have to ask what a darkroom is, you are apparently in the younger 25 percent of my readership.

Secondly, it was the age when photography was beginning to be recognized as an art form. In fact, the first showing that photographers had at the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art was a result of images shot during field work documenting the Depression and efforts to amend it.

Relatedly, photographers such as Ansel Adams were winning recognition for photography as art, frequently with portfolios that featured New Mexico and other Southwestern areas.

In a third aspect, it is true that the photographers sent into the field were working in the area of government propaganda. Remember that the term propaganda is used in a neutral sense here. Their mission was to chronicle the efforts being made by the current administration to resolve poverty, unemployment, and hopelessness. In fact, at one point there was real concern, on the part of those who saw the storm brewing in Germany, to make sure the Nazi government did not get its hands on photographic proof of just how bad things had become in the U.S.

In the process of carrying out their assignment, they created a vast library of heart-engaging images, many of which have become iconic.

We are barraged with photodocumentation in our society. I can, whether for good or ill, turn on my cell phone and take a better picture than I could with the first expensive used camera I was ever given, a 1950-something Argus C-3. It's too easy to lose sight of the importance of photojournalists who chronicled the depression years, and their unique documentation of life at that time. I urge you to spend some time looking at websites that will give you a new appreciation for that stage in our country's life.

Clyde Davis is a Presbyterian pastor and teacher at Clovis Christian High School. He can be contacted at:

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