“a large- scale, federally funded propaganda machine”

The Farm Security Administration (FSA) was Initially created as the Resettlement Administration (RA) in 1935 as part of the New Deal in the United States, the Farm Security Administration (FSA) was an effort during the Depression to combat American rural poverty.

When Dorothea Lange took the photographs of Migrant Mother she was working for a FSA on a  project to capture photographs of the effects of the Great Depression. Roy Stryker was the director of this project. He lay down specifics of religion, social environments and activities he wanted to be captured when making assignments. He further indicated what type of expression he wanted to be captured which now is what we think is behind the photograph.

Propaganda is the formation, of photographs or other sources of information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view. Some people argue that the photograph of Migrant Mother was used as propaganda to raise awareness of the 1930’s in a specific point of view, that is of the depression and poverty. The photograph is of a mother and her children which everyone can relate to and creates a lot of empathy from the viewers. The photos were also used to raise money, however none of that money was given to Migrant Mother herself, however some money was raised and given to the people on the crop farm where the photograph was originally taken. The photographs were then appropriated on to many things such as stamps and it soon became the most reproduced photograph in the history of photography.

Social reform is a kind of social movement that aims to make gradual change, or change in certain aspects of society, rather than rapid or fundamental changes. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary movements.  A Danish migrant published a photo book called ‘ How The Other Half Lives’  which was about the slums of Manhattan. This then triggered photographers such as Lewis Hine and Dorothea Lange to document through photographs industrialization of American Working class families. This brought to the attention the need housing and labor reforms. This photographs then led to what we know now as photojournalism and documentary photography which is used to tell stories, raise awareness and document events.

For this i went around to boys and girls and asked them different questions about why they joined the gym and about why some of the boys go to the gym, i also asked some girls also because i though it would be quite interesting to see why girls go to the gym in comparison to boys. All of the people that i asked where from the ages of 17-18 and go to the gym regularly.

• Why do you go to the gym?

Boys – to build muscle/put on weight, social/see friends/interact with others, impress girls

Girls – to tone, loose weight

• Why did you begin to go to the gym in the first place?

Boys – because they were scrawny and wanted to put on weight/muscle, social, because all friends went so they felt they were out of place if they did not go, impress girls

Girls – loose weight/ tone

• What motivates you to go to the gym?

Boys – seeing other men/body builders who are muscly

Girls – to look better/model, to get into clothes that they want to wear

• If you were offered performance enhances would you take them? if answers yes/no why?

Boys – most boys said no, they said this because they said it would shrink their balls/penis, one of the boys said they would take a full cycle to get themselves into the momentum to work out harder and give them more strength but then they would not carry it on, another boy said that they would if they were offered them free as it would help them lift heavier, and put on more muscle

Girls – no, unless it would help them loose weight/get toned faster

• What do you think peoples perceptions of you are?

Boys – lad, muscly, gym addict, always goes to the gym 

Girls – fat, round ball, small, slim

• Find a picture online of what you want to look like at the end of your ‘fitness journey’ 

I think that from asking these questions the main thing that i found out was that the main reason boys go to the gym is to build muscle and to look bigger, or to get the perfect six pack that they see loads of other males/body builders have that they would want to look like. It was also interesting to see the comparison between the girls who go to the gym, the main difference was that boys go to the gym to put on weight whereas girls go to loose weight as they believe they are fat and also go because they want to tone up.