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Why were holes punched through these photos of the Great Depression?

The words "fake news" have only recently become part of our vocabulary, but propaganda and manipulation are hardly a new phenomenon. During the Great Depression in the 1930s, a US government agency determined to prove its worth led a propaganda campaign that only recently has been uncovered. The systematic censorship of important photographs could be considered one of the darkest episodes in the history of photography.

The Whitechapel Gallery in London has dedicated an exhibition to these photographs titled Killed Negatives.

(Credits: Untitled Photo by Russell Lee/ Digital print from scanned 35mm b&w negative Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection).

Release date:

Duration:

2 minutes