United States, 1937. At the height of the Great Depression, the nascent Farm Security Administration hires 22-year-old photographer John Clark to document the calamitous Dust Bowl conditions in the South and Midwest and bring the farmers’ plight to the public eye. He starts working through his shooting script but finds his subjects unreceptive. What good are photos against relentless, deadly dust storms? The more he shoots, the more he discovers the awful extent of their struggles, coming to question his own role and responsibilities in this tragedy sweeping through the nation's heartland.