A native of Boston, Carl Mydans (1907–2004) was born into a family of second-generation Russian immigrants. He studied journalism at Boston University, where he first learned how to take and develop photographs. After he graduated in 1930, he found work as a reporter for American Banker, but eventually bought a 35-millimeter Contax camera. The Contax was small, and enabled its carrier to easily roam about and take photos with a minimum of advance preparation. He quickly mastered the camera, and began to sell his work to Time and other magazines.
In 1935, Mydans was hired as a photographer with a U.S. federal agency called the Resettlement Administration, which later became the Farm Security Administration. He traveled throughout New England and the South, documenting the failed end of a rural-based economy, and gained a reputation for his images of bedraggled Arkansas farmers and their families. It was the Great Depression, and the poorest of America’s poor were devastated by the economic downturn.
These pictures, of a Tennessee family of nine living in a hut built on an abandoned truck chassis, portray the misery of the times as starkly as any photographs by his more celebrated contemporaries in the FSA.
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| Resettlement Administration official investigating the case of nine living in field on U.S. Route 70 between Camden and Bruceton, Tennessee, near the Tennessee River. March 1936. |
Photographs of a Family of Nine Living in Field on U.S. Route 70 Near the Tennessee River During the Depression, 1936
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| Family of nine living in open field in rough board covering built on old Ford truck chassis on U.S. Route 70, between Bruceton and Camden, Tennessee. Their water supply was an open creek running near highway. |
Photographs of a Family of Nine Living in Field on U.S. Route 70 Near the Tennessee River During the Depression, 1936
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| Mother and father of a family of nine living in open field in rough board covering built on old Ford chassis on U.S. Route 70, between Bruceton and Camden, Tennessee. |
Photographs of a Family of Nine Living in Field on U.S. Route 70 Near the Tennessee River During the Depression, 1936
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| Mother and baby of family of nine living in field on U.S. Route 70 in Tennessee, near Tennessee River. |
Photographs of a Family of Nine Living in Field on U.S. Route 70 Near the Tennessee River During the Depression, 1936
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| Mother and baby of family of nine living in field on U.S. Route 70 in Tennessee, near Tennessee River. |
Photographs of a Family of Nine Living in Field on U.S. Route 70 Near the Tennessee River During the Depression, 1936
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| Twelve-year old girl of family of nine living in one-room hut built over the chassis of abandoned Ford truck in open field on U.S. Route 70 between Camden and Bruceton, Tennessee. View also shows one of the small boys in family; the girl is dressed in a meal sack. |
Photographs of a Family of Nine Living in Field on U.S. Route 70 Near the Tennessee River During the Depression, 1936
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| Oldest boy of family of nine, seventeen years old, claims two years schooling; living with his family in open field, on U.S. Route 70 between Camden and Bruceton, Tennessee. |
Photographs of a Family of Nine Living in Field on U.S. Route 70 Near the Tennessee River During the Depression, 1936
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| Three of the family of nine living in field in rough board covering built on old Ford truck chassis on U.S. Route 70, between Camden and Bruceton, Tennessee. |
Photographs of a Family of Nine Living in Field on U.S. Route 70 Near the Tennessee River During the Depression, 1936
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| Twelve-year old girl of family of nine, cooking meal in rude, open lean-to near hut, Tennessee. |
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| Interior of wood shack built upon Ford truck chassis housing father, mother and seven children. This view shows the mother and two of her children. |
Photographs of a Family of Nine Living in Field on U.S. Route 70 Near the Tennessee River During the Depression, 1936
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| One-room hut housing family of nine built over chassis of abandoned Ford in open field between Camden and Bruceton, Tennessee, near Tennessee River. |
Photographs of a Family of Nine Living in Field on U.S. Route 70 Near the Tennessee River During the Depression, 1936
