Social Documentary Photography

The world can be a brutal place. Perhaps worse than natural disaster is man's cruelty or indifference to his fellow man. Social documentary photography is a compassionate view of the injustice in the world. The movement started in the 19th century, when cities -- and poverty -- grew at an alarming rate. This was documented by photographers including Jacob Riis and Lewis Hine. During the Great Depression, the U.S. Farm Security Administration hired photographers to document farmers hit hard by the Dust Bowl and the collapse in commodity prices. FSA photographers such as Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, and Gordon Parks showed the plight of the socially distressed. More recent social documentary photographers include Don McCullin and Manuel Rivera-Ortiz.