FSA Documentary vs WPA Poster

FSAドキュメンタリー / WPAポスター

FSA Documentary comes from Photography Movements and WPA Poster from Public Design. Both are read here as style. They are reached for with some of the same intent, which is where they get confused.

FSA Documentary

FSA Documentary — ラング『移民の母』1936 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domainFSA Documentary — 『移民の母』LOC所蔵プリント — Wikimedia Commons / Public domainFSA Documentary — ウォーカー・エヴァンズ「雑貨店の内部（アラバマ州マウンドヴィル）」 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

The documentary program of Depression-era America's Farm Security Administration. Lange's Migrant Mother and 270,000 archived negatives defined the public role of documentary.

WPA Poster

WPA Poster — Harry Herzog / Federal Art Project, See America, 1936–40 — アメリカ議会図書館 / No known restrictions on publicationWPA Poster — WPA『See America』1937頃 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domainWPA Poster — WPA連邦美術計画の展覧会ポスター — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Carries a public purpose broadly and forcefully through simple imagery and few printed colors.

FSA DocumentaryWPA Poster
Era1935–19441935–1943
FamilyPhotography MovementsPublic Design
KindStyleStyle
CuesPortraits preserving dignity / Living conditions described / The archive as state project / Field information in captionsSimplified landscapes / Bold sans-serifs / Screenprint color / A clear call to action
Best used forProgram records for agencies and foundations that keep their subjects' dignity · Long-term community documentation built so it can be searched laterInviting participation in community, culture and public services · One-glance positive action for many people
TypeLog place, date and situation in a fixed form, never opinionHeavy geometric sans in short imperatives
CompositionAlways pair a portrait with the setting that person lives inOne symbolic place or figure, large; information confined to top and bottom
MaterialMonochrome throughout, camera height matched to the subjectThree to five flat colors, the paper's own tone, simple shading
CautionEmphasizing the look of hardship becomes the quick route to sympathy, and what was meant as a record turns the people in it into a spectacle.Don't borrow only the nostalgia. Be clear about who is being asked to do what, publicly.

Put these two together

Photography Movements ／ Public Design

IndexStyle