Do you know this woman?

[ColbertWatcher]

Do you know why her picture was taken?



She is Florence Owens Thompson, but in 1936 she was known across the country as only "Migrant Mother."

Farm Security Administration photographer Dorothea Lange took her picture as part of a government program to raise awareness about poverty in rural America.

According to Wikip*dia,

Photographers and writers were hired to report and document the plight of the poor farmer. {By} "introducing America to Americans."

I'm posting this because I have the beginning of an idea that I think has been a long time coming and I'm going to need the help of a powerful and dedicated online community to make it happen. We liberals know what shape the country is in, but we also know that the GOP-controlled media is for the most part ignoring it.

I think it's time we "introduce Americans to Americans" again.

We can start by documenting the condition of our towns. Simply start taking pictures of closed shops, abandoned houses, neighborhoods invaded by "foreclosed signs." Anything and everything that you feel needs to be addressed but isn't. The pictures need not be works of art; they only need to be taken.

Then upload those photos to hosting sites (like Photobucket or Flickr) where we can share them with everyone else.

Then we collect all the links into a huge database that I think would be hard to ignore. (I started a page on the Truthiness Encyclopedia where we can temporarily post links to pictures, but since the site is satirical, I don't know how appropriate it would be to continue using it- http://www.wikiality.com/New_New_Deal ).

By tagging the images and videos with the New New Deal (or something like that), GIS searches will find all the participants and their work.

Just as lifting the ban on photography at Dover helps Americans see the terrible consequences of war, we can use photography to open our fellow American's eyes to the terrible consequences of poverty.

I welcome everyone's ideas and suggestions.



==============================
LINKS:

* Florence Owens Thompson's story as told by her grandson.

* Where is JK?, a blog for a documentary about the FSA/OWI photographers

* Library of Congress Web Guide for FSA/OWI Materials

* http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/catalog.html">Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog

[Echo In Light]

1. Good idea K&R

[ColbertWatcher]

2. Thank you! I hope we can overwhelm the GOP denial with some good old fashioned ...

... liberal-biased reality!

[Echo In Light]

4. "Liberal-biased reality." I like that

:)

[Lucky Luciano]

48. That is from Stephen Colbert's GWB roasting...

"...and reality has a well known liberal bias!"

[AikidoSoul]

41. I'm for this idea and it should also

be created for other topics.

This is a worthy project but can be expanded. Pics say a lot that words cannot.

[Captain Hilts]

3. Here we are!

FDR: Thanks to New Deal programs, she and her children lived happily ever after.
ER: Yes they did, dear. And a shout out to ColbertWatcher...

[moggie]

5. Don't forget the power of Google Earth

When I'm noodling around with Google Earth, I'll often click on the photo flags.

Edit: www.panoramio.com

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

6. Great post and super idea!

But an idea like this needs a guiding hand to oversee and organize it (like you). I agree that a page on a satirical site is not the best host since poverty is anything but amusing. Go for it, Colbert Watcher! Find a good host site and do this project for real. Why not ask the photography forum as a start to do this as one of their projects?

[HillbillyBob]

19. It is not amusing to us, but I m sure the corpse big

wheels gurgle with delight every time they lay off a few thousand workers so they can take a larger cut.

I have seen /been poor and homeless too often to even snicker.

[malaise]

7. Great idea

K & R

[myrna minx]

8. Excellent idea. K&R n/t

[Wednesdays]

9. Pretty easy to get such photos, nowadays

Just go to any urban neighborhood. Most small towns, too, for that matter. :(

[rurallib]

10. I have been working census in rural areas. Poverty in rural America

is still a huge problem. Most are now working poor living in dilapidated farmhouses because it is cheaper rent. But huge heating bills and lousy jobs keeps rural america in poverty.
When americans think poverty they think of reagan's welfare queen and make themselves feel morally superior. I may be wrong, but I think rural poverty far outranks urban poverty. It is just so much easier to hide and deny in the country. And of course these people are mostly white.
Touring the backroads of the midwest and south would be an eyeopener.
Great Idea.

[cyberswede]

23. Take your camera along, rurallib n/t

[FailureToCommunicate]

36. Please take care. One of my first jobs was census and I got a gun pulled on me by

someone who just didn't want no "government folks round here". They are not necessarily bad people- just scared, with guns. The census guidebook said if the scene looks dangerous, skip 'em...
Good luck to you.

[KG]

37. i've lived in the rural south. there are people still living in houses w/o running water.

[rucognizant]

60. Bangor Daily NEws.........

had an article on poverty and difficulty in keeping warm, mostly among elderly SS recipients, last year. Winter 2007. THERE were some excellent photos, might be able to contact them for the file.
Sen. Collins was able to get LIHEAP almost doubled this ear (2008) It WAS a big help.
I live in such an old farmhouse.............while I was lucky to get weatherization, rewiring, replacement windows, new roof. ( metal) siding, through a Town Grant & a USDA rural grant............I have maxed out my "entitlements" and on a too small SS income can't follow through with the unforeseen problem that now needs fixing! The house is 2 buildings joined at a 45o angle. The corner where the rooves meet, is over the kitchen door porch, and outdoor cellar access. While I am grateful that the snow slid off in great dangerous avalanches of snow & ice, saving me from getting on a ladder and trying to scrape it off to prevent leakage ( a roofer fell to his death from this steep roof 28 years ago), it left a huge 5. 6' pile of solid ice on the porch & CELLAR DOOR, until the end of MArch! ( I need to build a porch roof so the snow can slide off into the yard and stay there until spring without blocking anything,but can't afford to do it.)
I couldn't go to the basement to see the fuel gauge, should the heater burst into flames, the turn off button is DOWN THERE.........
and of course if the heater had quit and needed repairs..........only a flame thrower & pick axe would have gained access.
I guess I should get pix of me labouring away out there?????
However I am probably one of the "wealthiest" Widows on SS in town. My husband painted pricey murals in Miami, the other Widows husbands pieced together an income digging clams, making Christmas wreaths, or raking blueberries. I will carry my camera with me!
great idea.
disclaimer: I think I was at the top of the list for grants because I served 2 years as An Americorps VISTA volunteer, with my office in the local cap agency. But they did help a LOT OF people in town as well!

[northernlights]

63. midcoast maine -- saw 2 new sights on my way to school yesterday

2 rundown antique farmhouses -- with their tractors out front with for sale signs. :(

[knitter4democracy]

69. I grew up in rural Michigan, and I agree with you.

I went to school with kids who lived with dirt floors and no running water, and forget a phone or electricity. They were ashamed of their poverty and did their best to hide from the assholes who bullied them constantly. I've always been amazed that people don't seem to know that such a situation even exists.

[Ganja Ninja]

11. Good Idea K & R

[TheCowsCameHome]

12. That picture is so moving.

Thanks for posting it.

[Cyrano]

13. What an outstanding idea. One picture can be worth 1000 hours of

just sitting around empathizing.

I've seen that picture many times. Perhaps it needs to be placed on a new USP stamp, or shown on a split TV screen with any Republican or media whore who continues to repeat the same crap that has taken us back to where we were 75 years ago.

[pleah]

14. K&R

[ShortnFiery]

15. That photo conveys so much pain. It's heartbreaking ... on so many levels.

:cry:

[blueraven95]

16. you should post this in the photography forum

:hi:

[HillbillyBob]

17. I live near Yanceyville NC a small town about 14 miles

South of Danville Va.

I tried to take some pics of what the logging is doing around here even on the Cherokee Reservation of the Boy Scouts of America land near here. It is called the Cherokee scout reservation but has nothing to do with Native American tribe that I can see.

I had a similar thought to take pics of empty businesses and homes and places that corporate operations make impressions (devastation?). I would also like to suggest photos of what Mining is doing too, from the open gold, silver, tin, lead mines out west to the mountain removal in Appalachia.

Great minds run in similar gutters?

My cell phone does not take good large scale pics though. Blurry.
What they did at the Boy Scout reservation was clear all of the understory in the forest, taking away the habitat for deer, turkey, raccoon, opossum, etc. The problem is that they are also (who 'they' are I do not know) clear cutting the State owned game lands adjacent too.
What this is doing is pressuring the wild life to find food and shelter else where. Most of us have gardens around here..that is going to be our food over next winter. This means we will have to compete with the wild life for our own garden produce. More pressure for us financially if not for the garden last year we would have had a harder time eating through the winter.

I went to the link to see but the page was blank..
This is a good idea I believe, there are enough diverse DUers that we could take pics all over and label the work to reflect the coverage of poverty and destruction and maybe some ideas to try to make things better to help correct the inequality of life in America in the 21st century. We can cover from rural empty farms (our place was abandoned when we bought it), sub and exurban developments that are emptying out, urban areas, malls, even the empty factories(there are a few around here too. I think the time for corpse rule needs to come to an end and people to gather and start Co Operating. If you think that is communist , well it is, community working to together is not the same as Stalinist collectivism where he killed and collected the power unto himself.

[kcass1954]

79. And isn't Danville turning into a depressing sight?!?

Downtown is gone, the mall is half-empty. Maybe it's because I was there for a funeral, but it wasn't much better when I went last year.

[formercia]

18. B&R

Bookmarked and recommended.

[barbtries]

20. i like your idea

bookmarking to keep track of developments

[ThatsMyBarack]

21. I've always liked that photo.

It's a true American classic that reminds me to appreciate everything I've got!

[lonestarnot]

22. K & R

[cyberswede]

24. Good idea!

...and thanks for the links!

[druidity33]

25. as a photographer

that idea appeals to me, but i know other photographers that wouldn't like it. There are problems too. There are some areas that have been run down for a long time, and nothing that's happened recently has changed that. I'd love to see comparison photos. What it looked like when Clinton left office... then what it looked like when Bush left office. Also, people really don't like having their pictures taken when they're "down and out". Sometimes property is protected by Security goons (like the mall near me that's been vacant a couple of years). Photographers who make their living off of their work probably wouldn't contribute so much. Dorothea Lange was no slouch. That wasn't her only good photo... she had an exceptional eye. There are times when the subject, photographer and light all coalesce to create an image of outstanding Quality and "Migrant Mother" is one of them, though.

Reminds me of the scene in "Roger & Me" when they're driving through downtown Flint after the factories had closed...

Good idea, though... keep us updated.

K&R








.edited to add pic.

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

43. Was that an old Hotel? Do you have any knowledge about the building?

I encourage the OP to progress with their great idea. Have you posted in the Photo Forum?

[druidity33]

53. i'm new to the photo group

The image is of a building on Staten Island a mile or so from the Ferry. Not sure what it was, but i was able to get inside...

[Donnachaidh]

78. on what street?

I grew up in that area. There was such grand stuff there years ago.

[qbones]

87. Isn't that on Castleton?

I work in Staten Island every Thursday, and there are quite a few abandoned buildings now. Even the old sailors home area, which houses a childrens' museum and more, is showing signs of dilapidation.
Funny - I had a very vivid dream last night of people picking through abandoned buildings for necessities...

[druidity33]

88. not sure...

it was taken in 2001. I was living on Staten Island temporarily. I just know it was within walking distance of where i was staying (Ganas Community)... which was real close to the ferry terminal.

Castleton does seem appropriate though...

:)

[Princess Turandot]

103. Yes. That's the original Smith Infirmary / Staten Island Hospital building on Castleton Ave

http://citynoise.org/article/9190/in/staten_island@ny

It was built in the 1860's.

[leftofthedial]

26. excellent idea

with today's media and communications, this could be a fascinating and timely project.

[merh]

27. Please post this in the photography forum

It would be a wonderful project for DUers and maybe Skinner and the admins could set up a part of DU just to memorialize the images (like the research forum).

:thumbsup:

[suede1]

28. Great idea.

K & R.

[mimitabby]

29. more about Florence

she was interviewed on CNN: http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/movies/thompson_water_06.html
here's another photo of her:

[havocmom]

30. Damn fine idea! The way to beat hate is with understanding.

Have camera, will travel. I'm in.

But someone will need to host a real site for it to really impact. Start small, then when people start to notice a dedicated site that blogs across the spectrum would feel comfortable linking to and publicizing would seem necessary.

Will do a bit of hunting this evening when I get home.

[mrs_p]

31. fabulous idea

i need to learn how to use the photo hosting sites, but count me in...

K/R and bookmarked

[Gemini Cat]

32. K&R Great idea!

[backtoblue]

33. k&r

wonderful idea

[glitch]

34. It's a great idea!

but remember it is important to get written permission to take photographs of people, and that should be done tactfully and with full disclosure of how the photographs will be used.
This should be heavily emphasized in the instructions on the site.
Excellent idea!

[dbmk]

58. Some links to the law on the matter

http://www.publaw.com/photo.html
http://www.photosecrets.com/links.law.html
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/andrewkantor/2005-12-29-camera-laws_x.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photography_and_the_law
http://www.rcfp.org/photoguide/stateindex.html

It may or may not apply in your individual case - and I have not idea of how correct they are - so if in doubt, seek more information locally.

But I am somewhat sure that you are in the clear as long as the picture is not published for commercial reasons and does not violate the privacy of the involuntarily depicted to an unreasonable degree. Otherwise street photography would be a problematic artistic outlet for photogs. But IANAL.

Edit:
From the wikipedia link
"In 2006, a New York trial court issued a ruling in a case involving Philip-Lorca diCorcia, who had set up elaborate strobe rigs on a New York City street corner and had photographed people walking down the street, including Emo Nussenzweig, an Orthodox Jew who objected on religious grounds to diCorcia's publishing in an artistic exhibition a photograph taken of him without his permission. The photo's subject argued that his privacy and religious rights had been violated by both the taking and publishing of the photograph of him. The judge dismissed the lawsuit, finding that the photograph taken of Nussenzweig on a street is art - not commerce - and therefore is protected by the First Amendment."

I would say that a project like this would clearly fall inside the protected use of pictures taken in public.

[glitch]

90. It really does depend, thanks for the links.

public access, street photos ok, but portraits of the kind Dorothea Lange took would need written permission, according to what I was taught (long ago, but always best to be safe, and cordial -- it's common courtesy to get permission for portraits. Public gatherings assumed permission (and unrealistic to get anyway)).

[Ilsa]

35. Great idea. Regarding the photo, it's how the children are leaning on her

that strikes me. Children that age should be energetic, not hanging on mom like that. Of course, they are hungry and feel hopeless, and that is point of the photo.

I remember the photo. And I remember the stories my parents told us about the Depression, especially Dad's stories.

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

44. It was my Mom who had the stories

Her Dad was Foreman on a fruit ranch in southern Calif. and she said people were all the time driving up looking for work. The Ranch couldn't afford to hire anymore people and would sometimes have to put gas in the car so they could leave and go look for work elsewhere. Talked about giving them food her folks had canned or had on hand as those looking for work had arrived with nothing.

[DemReadingDU]

38. bookmarking

[arikara]

39. Brilliant. Sometimes the simplest of ideas are by far the best

You might want to throw in a few pics of the have-more's especially the bail-out recipient CEO types enjoying their yachts, limos and gala's just for contrast.

[dixiegrrrrl]

45. oh god yes...the contrast !!! Brilliant idea.

Start with Limpballs and that damn cigar.

[BoneDaddy]

40. What a face

Even with all her toil and troubles she is still so beautiful.

[swilton]

42. The worst condition that I see in our towns

could not be shown in this type of illustration - unless someone has an idea on how to capture it.
What I see in our small towns is not the presence of poverty - but the absence of local businesses.
Our towns have been colonized by franchise restaurants (Burger Kings, McDonalds, you name it) and military bases. They have urban sprawls rather than main streets - etc., etc. No local produce stores, no local markets or handy-men shops, etc., etc.

This is a great idea - but there has to be a way to capture this phenommenon. :think:

[japple]

50. My hometown is full of businesses that prey on the poor.

Pawnshops, payday loans, furniture rental stores, lottery ticket vendors, and churches.

[Baby Snooks]

46. Just another stray cat...

That's how the destitute and the homeless are viewed, and dismissed, today. And how they were viewed, and dismissed, back then. Viewed as stray cats. Nothing more. Hanging around. Waiting to be fed.

And FDR was reviled for feeding them. How dare he.

[earth mom]

47. Great idea! K & R!

:kick:

[Cleita]

49. I'm in. I have been thinking of something along those lines

as well. Also, in my county there is a huge disparity between the ultra wealthy and the desparate poor and elderly poor. I thought of taking pictures just to highlight the contrasts.

[DeSwiss]

51. Excellent!

- K&R

[Lena inRI]

52. Great activist idea, ColbertWatcher. . .

. . .have been using Thompson as my avatar to replace Obama/Biden avatar. . .maybe you want to use it now with your excellent idea for activist photography. .

Muckrakers 2009. . . here we come!

I'll do what I can. . .thanks!

:yourock: :grouphug: :yourock: :grouphug: :yourock:

[bobbolink]

54. I like your idea... I ask you to go further with it.

Some have made the comment that there are a lot of photos like this nowadays.

The problem is, the INFORMATION, THE FACTS, are what people are missing.

I agree that we need to "personalize" the issue. The new book, The Empathy Gap, agrees on this.

HOWEVEr, just looking at only DU you can see for yourself just how much ignorance abounds.

People, even "progressives" who think they are aware, have swallowed so much misinformation and plain old LIES, that the real facts are known by very few.

I would add to your idea.... how 'bout brainstorming ways of actually EDUCATING people, and that includes "progressives"?

Like for instance... how about a full page ad, with information about the lack of low-income housing, and how many people simply are priced out of ANY place to live?

All of these figures and facts are available, and there are many of us who would like to help with this, but..... there hasn't been the support to really educate.

Photos are fine, but they need to be accompanied by Real Information!

Thanks for bringing this up

[jennied]

62. I like this idea....

[bobbolink]

71. Thank you, jennied! It's time to step out in different directions---the suffering is increasing

and so is the ignorance!

So, how can we make this happen?

[smokey nj]

67. That's an excellent idea, bobbie!

[bobbolink]

89. Thanks! I recently read an essay by an organization that gathered money until they could put

together an ad, and they said they got a lot of very good response to it... that it made people think.

There is so much really horrible ignorance, that it's hard to know where to begin, but that essay really stirred some possibilities in me.

What I know is that we MUST get the real facts out there!

Thanks for hearing!

[JeffR]

82. That's good. Very good.

And a rec for the OP. This has lots of potential!

[nxylas]

101. The old adage that "a picture is worth 1000 words" isn't always true

For example, on the issue Bobbie highlights, homelessness, people see homeless people all the time, so photos would do little to raise awareness. Where I perhaps differ from Bobbie is my belief that stories are more powerful than facts alone. Tell people that HUD has torn down over 100,000 low-income homes since 1996 and they might say "well, gee, that's terrible". Confront them with the stories of real people who have been made homeless by HUD's actions and you put a human face on the statistic, which I believe is more likely to motivate people to act.

[ColbertWatcher]

104. I disagree.

One photo might not change anyone's mind.

But overwhelm a person with how pervasive homelessness is across the country and you're more likely to make that person stop an think.

Also, 100,000 is a big number and might be too abstract for some, but pictures of many people--with their stories--is not abstract.

Some of the earlier conversations in this thread covered getting people's rights/permission to photograph them, so that might make it hard to get too much information.

Nonetheless, for every picture there will be a different face from a different town, when we put them all together, it will make it hard for people to say what Limpballs said about there being no recession.

This project isn't looking for one iconic picture, we're hoping to show people who believe like Limpballs and the filthy rich that the poor and the homeless won't be ignored any more.

[blondeatlast]

55. CW, you are so smart, so witty, and so inventive. Someday I must meet you.

This is a great idea.

I can walk a block and see the effects on good neighbors who are holding on long enough for their kids to finish the school year--or at least hoping to. It's all of us, and we are all so perilously close to it but we choose not to see it.

[mtnester]

56. Many resources out there, modern day

This just from February this year

Children of the Mountains:
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Story?id=6845770&page=1

[Amelie]

57. I read an interview with that woman's daughter

The one on her right shoulder. She said they (the kids) were so ashamed of how poor they were that they just wanted to hide their faces. Sad.

[robinlynne]

59. I love your idea, am a photographer, and will start taking some photos.

[jennied]

61. This is awesome, I'm in

Though, I live in a pretty good town, there's not much poverty. There is the "poorer" side of town, which I kinda live by, but it's hardly poverty.

Maybe I'll go to some neighboring towns and take some pictures.

[Juan_de_la_Dem]

64. A very good post. Thank you

[dajoki]

65. Thank you for your efforts...

this is a great idea that I think could be taken even farther, I could see personal stories along with the photos. Also I think as many facts as we can gather would be a way to debunk the sterotypes that most Americans believe to be true but are really not true. I was looking at information about poverty for quite a while now and I have much of it saved. If you want to PM me I can give you some stuff.

K&R

[bobbolink]

74. You are quite right.... what's needed are solid facts to combat the ignorance.

And the willful ignorance.

I hope the OP takes you up on your offer!

[dajoki]

94. I have plenty...

of information saved and I would be glad to help.

[csziggy]

66. There were some books with this same idea

A Day in the Life of America: Photographed by 200 of the World's Leading Photojournalists on One Day, May 2, 1986 - http://www.amazon.com/Day-Life-America-Rick-Smolan/dp/0002553325/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241730348&sr=1-3

It was so popular (it is still available twenty years after it was first published) that they got together and did it again in 2003:

America 24/7 - http://www.amazon.com/America-24-7-Rick-Smolan/dp/0789499754/ref=pd_sim_b_1

And yet again:
America at Home - http://www.amazon.com/America-at-Home-Rick-Smolan/dp/0762434155/ref=pd_cp_b_1?pf_rd_p=413864201&pf_rd_s=center-41&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0789499754&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0JRD656WJCT3KEFV8G24

They also did it all over the world and in some states.

I think it is a brilliant idea and well worth doing! If you need web space, PM me. I could help with that as I have unused web space.

[Norrin Radd]

68. An especially good idea when the pics are collected together.

[northofdenali]

70. K&R

Will be out this weekend on the bike with the camera. It'd amaze you how many areas a motorcycle can get to unobtrusively. Our downtown basically is gone - the big box stores sucked up everything in one giant whirlwind. The economy did the rest.

[me b zola]

72. K&R

[BrklynLiberal]

73. K&R!!!

[Arkana]

75. In the History Channel's special on the Depression, Mario Cuomo tells

the story of how these photos came to be--it's an interesting one.

[AllyCat]

76. Bookmarking...k & r

Excellent idea. This is a no/low-cost way to start bringing some attention to the problems we all see.

[beac]

77. Great idea! K&R. n/t

[cascadiance]

80. You just made me think about how Life magazine used to fit this role...

... so many years ago. It seems we need to have an online "Life Magazine" someplace where we can have a whole portfolio of pictures.

Perhaps a voting system that can float the best pictures to the front pages, so that we can hit people hard when they first come to the site.

[1776Forever]

81. What impacts me the most are the rows & rows of empty houses: Empty neighborhoods fill Rust Belt

(Hi ColbertWatcher)

There are 22 pictures on the following referenced site. They all show the empty houses that were once homes and neighborhoods and some of the people who are still hanging on. Our old neighborhood in Florida has an empty home at every other address.

Check the article out here:

AP IMPACT: Empty neighborhoods fill Rust Belt

By DAN SEWELL and FRANK BASS – 3 days ago

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iYNyoa9py6Q5Nri4VNBP-WVxttmQD97VMKEO0?index=0

CINCINNATI (AP) — Meet the forgotten housing crisis. While most attention has focused on the wave of foreclosures sweeping mostly middle-class, suburban Sunbelt neighborhoods from California to Florida, the nation's emptiest neighborhoods have remained concentrated in the same place for nearly a generation: the mostly minority, poor, urban neighborhoods of the American Rust Belt.

An analysis by The Associated Press, based on data collected by the U.S. Postal Service and the Housing and Urban Development Department, shows the emptiest neighborhoods are clustered in places hit hard during the recession of the 1980s — cities such as Flint, Mich.; Columbus, Ohio; Buffalo, N.Y.; and Indianapolis.

"I'd move in a heartbeat if I had somewhere to go right now," said Cindy Olejniczak of Buffalo, raking trash from the lawn of a boarded-up house to keep it from blowing in her yard. Roughly every third home in her neighborhood is vacant. Not even pizzerias will deliver to the area now.

"It's almost like you wish they would just level the whole neighborhood," she said, "and start rebuilding again from scratch."

(More at link)

............

Very sad ~ :hug:

[bobbolink]

86. "Very sad" Especially when you picture, right next to them, the MILLIONS of people who are homeles

This is a very sick society.

:( :cry: :(

[1776Forever]

100. The homeless and those who are living with family and friends are hidden to the MSM it seems.

I think it will take someone like Lisa Ling who did the story on the tent cities and Oprah and others like her that will have to bring this to the public more often. I feel so in simpatico with the older homeless who won't ask their children for help. You saw that often in Lisa Ling's reporting. When the older parents raised their kids they gave them good homes and now sometimes these same kids don't even know their parents are homeless.

Swede put this video on about Lisa's report on DU:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x303357

[bdamomma]

102. empty houses and sprouting up tent cities or bushvilles. sad.

[JeffR]

83. I hope this gets 100 recs before I nod off.

Great idea.

[Reeta77]

84. K&R 100...Excellent idea.

[annabanana]

85. There is barely an untouched town anywhere in the US... It would

be good to be able to see that we're all in the same boat. We have been isolated, one from the other, so that we might not make common cause.

[davidswanson]

91. Here's a good start already:

http://dbacon.igc.org

[elleng]

92. Do you know this book?

Let us Now Praise Famous Men.
James Agee

Includes many such photos.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_Us_Now_Praise_Famous_Men

[Kulshan]

93. Migrant Mother

ColbertWatcher;
What an amazing idea! We do need to see the reality of life from the outside wishing for just a little better. I wish you the best of luck. I am so new here and have such a time navigating! But, I shall watch for further information on your project.

[ColbertWatcher]

95. Thank you and welcome to DU! n/t

[Muttocracy]

96. welcome to DU!

:hi:

[ColbertWatcher]

97. THANK YOU EVERYONE!

Lots of comments and ideas to go through!

I posted an update here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5615521&mesg_id=5615521

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[defendandprotect]

98. It is a great idea . . .

in our town, however, they are camoflaguing stores that are closed . . .
they move in posters and stuff to make it look occupied.

You don't have to go far to see distress, however -- the GOP's agenda
for a "third world America" did work!!!

[WillyT]

99. Kick !!!

:applause::yourock::applause:

:kick:

[nadinbrzezinski]

105. Hmm I wonder if I can take the camera and just go

on a tour as it were...

I can even play with GIMP and give them that look of black and white and sepia... post both the fiddled with and the original... good idea

[ColbertWatcher]

106. Go for it!

Try to take notes on where and when the images were taken and, if possible, what's going on in the picture, too.