Following the videoconference that we had on thursday, i wanted to write a blog post in which i found a way to connect some form of artwork to the recession/depression. While i didn't find one specific artifact, i found a page from the New York Times in which they had encouraged people to send in their pictures representing the economic troubles. While i can't bring out any of the pictures and put them onto this post, here's a link to the page. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/04/02/business/economy/economy-user-photos.html#/0/.
Much like the pictures we looked at from the Great Depression of the 1920's, these pictures subtly displayed the general mentality of the economy not only in the U.S., but around the globe. One of the pictures i thought was very interesting was a picture of a man dressed in a suit, standing on a street corner holding a sign saying, "Not looking for a handout, Just Need A Job". The caption says that there is a phone number written on the back of the sign. This picture, along with many others reminded me of the pictures from the 20's of businessmen either sleeping on the ground, or walking long distances, or looking for jobs in general. There was one picture that looked almost identicle to the one of people lining up down the street looking for a job.
Overall, there was an eerily similar appearance between these pictures and the ones we explored in class. I suggest looking through them, because there are far too many for me to describe, but together they provide an interesing perspective to the economic struggles of all people, businesses, and countries.
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Great post Sammy!
I loved those pictures. I was particularily struck by the picture of Frisbee's Supermarket Inc., the oldest family-owned store in North America, declaring bankruptcy after 6 generations since 1828. To think of all the national turmoil the store has survived over these years, including the Great Depression, the seriousness of this current economical crisis is put in place.
I was also really struck by the images portraying the desperate measures people are going to in order to stay afloat in these rough economic times, such as the limo service card wedged behind the "Morgue" sign and the chalk sign stating: "Out of Work? Drink! $6.50 Pitchers"
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