Recession photos
In the 1920s and 1930s in the United States, during a time of great economic hardship, the mood was captured for posterity by some hugely iconic photographs. It is of course true that, in the current decade, we do not have the same homeless migrant workers and farmers, or the abandoned towns covered in dust. But we do have some considerable hardship, particularly for those left on the margins of society.
This photo was taken last week in Aberdeen. I was struck by the complete lack of personal connection between the man sitting on the pavement and everyone else.
recession
Tags: depression, recession
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University Blog 
July 3, 2012 at 12:57 am
That is a very affecting image, and a lovely composition.
At first glance, I misread the tags as the title: “Depression, recession”.
Niall.
July 3, 2012 at 7:37 am
Excellent image; very affecting.’Iconic’ even (Don McCullin-esque). Publishing it is a step in the direction of trying to close the gap between the ’connected’ and the ’disconnected’.
July 3, 2012 at 9:09 am
No connection can be established between the man sitting on the pavement and everybody else, his gaze is down, he cannot connect in the most natural way human being do, by eye contact, his is a psychological recession, he has ‘receded’ within himself in that inner space we all have and use from time to time. He seems oblivious to everything around him, he does not wish to connect, too humiliated by life, he really does not care. This picture might represent the personal situation of one single man, but I prefer to see such man as symbolic of a whole country in the current financial crisis. He could represent Greece, or Ireland or Spain or Italy, begging for a bailout. The iconic pictures of the past recession of the 20s/30s, also show men and women suffering, their eyes lost, however some of such pics also show human solidarity, the strength of the collective effort. I wish that today’s pics might reflect just a bit of that hope..
July 7, 2012 at 5:40 pm
Did the complete lack of connection between the man sitting on the pavement and everyone else extend to the photographer, or did the photographer establish enough of a connection to obtain permission to post the seated man’s image on the web?