Together with her husband, Edwin Rosskam (1903–1985), the pair documented American life during the Great Depression.

The Rosskams were part of a group of talented photographers hired by Roy Stryker, the head of the FSA between 1935 and 1944, during what is often called the "Golden Age of Documentary Photography".

[1] Louise Rosskam was born into a large Jewish family, the youngest of eight children in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1910.

During their careers, Louise and her husband Edwin worked as photographers for the Farm Security Administration, the Office of War Information, the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, the Puerto Rico Office of Information, and the New Jersey Department of Education.

Many of their photos taken while working for the Government agencies are now in the archives of the Library of Congress, and are part of the public domain.