Photo-realism is very hard to achieve these days, as nearly everyone is used to having their picture taken, but it used to be different. Look at these photos below: they are as real a depiction of the suffering and deprivation of the American depression as one is ever likely to see. They are also some of the most powerful photos ever taken.

Below: Farmers who have bought machinery cooperatively 1939

BELOW: Immigrant Mother – 1938

For many, this photo entirely captures the great Depression. Lange took the photo of the mother of seven children after she had sold their tent to buy food. It is almost unbearably poignant, a reminder of the terrible suffering undergone by ordinary people.

Young migratory mother, originally from Texas

George Amico