The Recession

Artist Statement: The Recession

Over the past few years, this country has faced the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression. My project consists of a group of images of places that have been affect by the Recession. These images were taken as supplemental pieces to my Senior Thesis Project where I interviewed and photographed portraits of ten individuals who have been affect by the Recession. My inspiration for this project comes from photographers such as Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange who used their cameras to bring attention to the social problems during the Great Depression. Photographing people and hearing their stories inspired me to go deeper into this project and look outside just portraiture. The Recession can be seen and felt in most places you turn these days. Even though it is tough to realize, our economy is struggling and much like Evans and Lange, I want to use my camera to document an important time in the history of our country. -Meg Patch

Shelly, Age 36

“My words of wisdom would be to help others, because that is how I ended up getting a job. I think that the number one way to get a job is through the people you know in your network. I just like to go out of my way to help people and try to talk to people. Especially people who are going through it, because I’ve been through it and I get the depression, I get the frustration, I get that you may not be portraying yourself in a certain way and all of those things. So, it’s just a big learning lesson in life that you should help people out and also, you can’t just take things for granted.”

Garrett, Age 22

“I think our generation was really a trophy generation where the thought is that if you get good grades on this, go to school for this and do well on that, then you will get a job. That’s what everyone told me and that’s just the way it works. Now there are people doing exactly that, and with the economy the way it is, this thought is just not a reality anymore. It’s a hard thing to swallow because we were raised on the idea that if we follow steps one through whatever, there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Now the gold’s not really there.”

JoAnn, Age 53

“The biggest lesson I’ve learned from all of this is giving back to someone else rather than being selfish and caring only about how I feel. Having to give up materialistic things is not as important as sacrificing for someone else’s future because we don’t know what the future holds for our children. It’s the future that I am looking at for my daughter.”

Angeline, Age 26

“I think it is very important to save money. You should definitely save. Don’t spend every paycheck you get. The only reason I’m pulling through right now is because I saved.”

Katie, Age 79

“I think the scariest part is that what I sort of took for granted about the future, I no longer take for granted. I think that’s the thing that I’ve lost that’s hardest for me. Being able to count on things in the future, I can no longer count on. I’ll just say what I’ve always told my kids, you just have to put one foot in front of the other no matter what happens because that’s the only way you can march forward. Otherwise you can get stuck in a place that just immobilizes you. You put one foot in front of the other and keep going and keep looking ahead and that’s it.”

Clare, Age 20

“The scariest part about going through this tough time is my brothers possibly not being able to have the same opportunities that I had, because I’m already here at LMU and I’ve established that this is my home. I just want them to be able to have the same experience. With not having a lot of money, we are just not sure if they are going to be able to go here or to colleges as good as LMU.”

Julia, Age 22

“The recession has affected me because I didn’t originally think I was going to go to graduate school. I thought I would just go right into working because I’ve always been an unpaid intern. Now all these places I’ve worked for are not giving their interns jobs anymore. So, I’ve decided to go to graduate school, which is a whole other obstacle because I have to find a way to pay for it. It’s probably the first time in my life that I have been so conscious of money and it’s been a real stress, and I’m sure it’s just the beginning for me.”

David, Age 57

“I have a couple words of wisdom. One is that there are certainly worse things in life that can happen. I guess, at the end of the day it is just a job. When you wrap your life up in your job, it’s tough to divorce yourself, as a person, from being a productive individual. However, I think you learn that you have to stay focused everyday, sort of stay in the day and try to continue just to believe that something hopeful will happen that day. That’s what I tried to keep telling myself. Just have one hopeful thing happen that day.”

Keane, Age 22

“It’s been okay, you know, I’m not the kind of person that needs a lot of money to be happy, but not being able to find a job affects your psyche. Having to worry about money, having to worry about whether or not I will have to move back in with my parents, wondering if I am going to be able to make my next car insurance payment or am I just going to have to drive around with out insurance for awhile? You don’t want to have to make that choice, you don’t want to have to go with out insurance or health care. I can’t really say I’m starving to death or out on the streets, but it’s still a lot to worry about.”

Stephanie, Age 63

“I could never have imagined being unemployed for this long. When I was still working, I heard about someone that had left the company prior to the recession who had been out of work for six months. I thought to myself, ‘Oh my God…how do you survive?’ I had ninety-nine weeks of unemployment, which was great, but would I have known where I was now, I would have saved some of the money I was getting.”

*This collection of photographs was taken in Los Angeles, CA from February-April 2011. I plan to continue and expand this project.