Most of the photos on this site were extracted from reference images (high-resolution tiffs, 20 to 200 megabytes in size) from the Library of Congress research archive. (To query the database click here.) Many were digitized by LOC contractors using a Sinar studio back. They are adjusted by your webmaster for contrast and color in Photoshop before being downsized and turned into the jpegs you see here.

November 1938. "Unemployed man. Omaha, Nebraska." View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration.
There's something very real about this photo. Often times when you see old B/W photos, one gets a sense of nostalgia, which detracts from what we can associate with. This picture looks like you could be there with the guy in the photo. I can't put my finger on it. It has a sort of crispness to it.
Today's Top 5