Which American photographer documented the Great Depression by photographing the unemployed and rural poor?

• A. Ansel Adams
• B. Dorothea Lange
• C. Margaret Bourke-White
• D. Lewis Hine

Answer: (B)

The main idea here is recognizing the photographer who used documentary images to reveal the hardship of the Great Depression, especially the unemployed and rural poor. Dorothea Lange, working with the Farm Security Administration, traveled through rural areas and captured powerful, humane portraits of families facing poverty and displacement. Her iconic images, like Migrant Mother (1936), put a human face on widespread suffering and helped spur public support for relief programs and reforms. While other well-known photographers of the era focused on different subjects—landscapes, industry, or earlier social issues—Lange is the one most closely associated with documenting the rural poor and unemployed during the Depression.