In 1938, Ben Shahn traveled through Central Ohio as a photographer for the Farm Security Administration (FSA). His work captured the daily lives of residents during the tail end of the Great Depression, focusing on street scenes in towns like London, Marysville, and Circleville, as well as the rural landscapes of Pickaway and Madison Counties.
One of his most famous series from this period is a “Saturday Afternoon” in London, Ohio, where he photographed locals socializing, window shopping, and gathered around parked cars on the main thoroughfare. He documented the bustle of a typical Saturday afternoon, including men in overalls talking on street corners and shoppers outside local storefronts.
His photos include the Pickaway County Courthouse and various street scenes reflecting the town’s architecture and social atmosphere in Circleville, Ohio. He captured more intimate portraits, such as a man on a street corner in Marysville and a young man outside a liquor store in Newark. Many shots were taken along U.S. Route 40, highlighting farmsteads, auctions, and the stark reality of rural infrastructure during that era.
Shahn was known for using a “right-angle viewfinder” on his Leica camera, which allowed him to photograph people without them realizing he was looking directly at them. This technique resulted in candid, unposed portraits of farmers, residents of small towns like London and Marysville, and laborers at county fairs. His Ohio collection is a significant historical record, documenting everything from sidewalk scenes and store windows to the weary expressions of people navigating the economic hardships of the late 1930s.
Filling truck with threshed grain, Central Ohio
Getting ready for dinner during wheat harvest, Central Ohio
Hardware store, Marion, Ohio
Hardware store, Somerset, Ohio
Harvest hand and helper on the Virgil Thaxton farm near Mechanicsburg, Ohio
Leave a Reply