Let Us Now Praise Famous Men: Images of The Great Depression

In response to The House of Representatives voting down a measure that would have reauthorized extended unemployment insurance for another three months, Porcelains and Peacocks posts these timeless and timely images from the Great Depression. American photographer Walter Evans (1903-1975) came from an affluent family but was able to capture Alabama cotton sharecropper Floyd Burroughs’ quiet despair. The novel The Grapes of Wrath (1939) profiles a poor family of sharecroppers who in desperation leave their Oklahoma home for California. Californian author John Steinbeck (1902-1968) wrote the book in response to the Great Depression and its effects "I want to put a tag of shame on the greedy bastards who are responsible for this", he stated. Fellow Californian Elmer Hader (1889-1973) illustrated the first edition book cover. The painting Abandoned by Millard Sheets (1907-1989) shows a farm where the owners have been driven away from their land by economic collapse. The painting became emblematic of the Great Depression; what image will define our current times?