Works Progress Administration Photos on the Internet Archive

The Works Progress Administration employed photographers to document American life during the Great Depression, creating one of the most important photographic records of the 20th century. Photographers like Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, and Gordon Parks produced images that defined how America saw itself during its darkest economic hour.

The Internet Archive hosts WPA photographs covering every region of the United States: sharecroppers in the South, factory workers in the Midwest, migrant laborers in California, and urban poverty in Eastern cities. These images are unflinching, technically accomplished, and deeply humane.

For visual artists, journalists, and historians, WPA photographs set the standard for documentary photography. Their influence extends through photojournalism, social documentary, and fine art photography to the present day.