The painting American Gothic (AG) by the Iowan Grant Wood depicting farmers in 1930 vs. the photograph Rural Rehabilitation Client (RRC) by the Lithuanian-born New Jerseyan Ben Shahn depicting recipients of a federal aid program in Arkansas in 1935.
Differences: AG looks almost animated while RRC is obviously real. AG pictures a well-dressed older couple who look like they are some-what well off. On the other hand, the younger pair in RRC look exhausted, poor, and almost desperate. The AG clothes are like Sunday Best clothes, while the RRC clothes are everyday work clothes. The AG couple look orderly and under control of their atmosphere, unlike the RRC couple who look untidy, dirty, and who live a chaotic life. In the AG background, a nice white house stands in the middle of the countryside, while the background of the RRC photo is a rudimentary looking cabin.
Similarities: Both couples look sad, even though the RRC ones look even worse. They both live in the country. They both probably work hard, though the RRC pair harder. The women are shorter than the men. Both pictures are black and white, and have the look of disappointment and depression.
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Look at the next-to-last sentence in your first paragraph. Do you see the faulty parallelism? Untidy & dirty are parallel, but then the third element has a new verb.
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