Worry During the 1930's

In the image I chose you see a close up of a man. He looks as if he is sitting down and his hands are on his face. The first thing I noticed about the picture was that the man has his hands on his face and it looks like he is biting his nails. Usually when people do this, it means they are worried or stressed out about something. This could be seen as a theme for the era at the time. People were probably worried and stressed about the economy, their jobs, and how they were going to make ends meet during the Great Depression. Also, I noticed the man has a tissue or maybe a handkerchief in his hand that's been crumbled up in a ball. This could mean he was crying before which could be a result of the stress and worry he has been feeling. You see in the background there could be some sort of machine but it is not the main focus of the picture because it is blurry. This could mean that the photographer was really trying to emphasize the people and their emotions during this time. This photo is in black and white which makes it seem very depressing and sad. The photographer seems to be on the same level as the subject, making it seem as though he might have been in the same boat as the man. I think it would've been different if the photographer took the photo at a higher vantage point because to me that would've symbolized dominance or that he was better off than the man. I think the main mood of this picture is worry. I feel like in other historical documents about the 1930's you mostly hear about economically how the nation was doing, we never really learned about how the people of the 1930's felt. We knew it was a hard time but I think the photographer wanted us to see the different moods of different people in this era.