Carl Mydans left New York to go to work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA), a New Deal agency formed during Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency and charged with the task of documenting the country’s struggles through the Great Depression. Under the direction of FSA head Roy Stryker, Mydans traveled through southern states to take photographs of the cotton-growing industry. Rather than depicting daily activities, however, he concentrated on the faces of the individuals who made their living in that industry, allowing them to tell their own stories.
