After graduating from college and working as a writer for local newspapers, Carl Mydans joined the Farm Security Administration (FSA) as a photojournalist in 1935. In this role, Mydans depicted the effects of the Great Depression in rural areas, focusing on farm workers in Arkansas and the broader American South. In 1936, Mydans became one of the first staff photographers for LIFE magazine, and it was during this time that he produced the most important photographs of his career. He photographed Europe and Asia during World War II, documenting events such as the liberation of the Philippines, the bombing of Chongqing in China, and the signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender. Mydans also photographed the Fukui Earthquake, the Korean War, and Moscow under Soviet rule. With his wife, American writer Shelley Smith Mydans, he was taken as a prisoner of war by the Japanese army from 1942 to 1944. The couple co-authored the book The Violent Peace: A Report on Wars in the Postwar World (1968).