Born in the year 1895 and later died in 1965, Dorothea Lange was an American female photographer and photojournalist. She studied at the University of Columbia and graduated in the year 1917. She opened a photo studio in the New York City and she specialized in photo portraits. Her passion in photography led to her success. She had a desire to move around the world and enjoy the wide range of photography and record her documentaries. Her dream was cut short and she decided to settle in San Francisco (Curtis, 1986). This was due to robbery and she had to terminate her trip. During her career period, her photos were black and white as the technology had not advanced. She could cite the particular scene using a photograph and that was her greatest breakthrough. Every photo had a deep meaning. Her art was very different as it was driven by passion and through that, she succeeded in her career
In San Francisco, she used her photography skills to enlighten the country on the depression the homeless and the unemployed individuals were going through. She diverted her skills from the studio and concentrated on the streets. Before Second World War, Lange was employed by the United States farm security administration and her job was to investigate the living conditions of farm workers in the state of California and other western states. The workers had migrated from the mid-western states such as Oklahoma which were at risk of being hit by famine due to drought (Dorman, 2003). The farm workers were subjected to a lot of labor and they could make less than a dollar per day while others could not land a job due to high competition. This resulted to much suffering from depression. Children were the most affected by the situation and one could clearly see by looking at their face through most of the photos that Lange took.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
When her photos featured in a newspaper, the federal authorities were alerted about the living conditions of those workers. The federal authorities sent the help needed where most of the people were suffering from famine and diseases. It was through her art of photography that many were saved from poor living conditions which had led to depression.
References
Curtis, J. C. (1986). Dorothea Lange, migrant mother, and the culture of the Great Depression. Winterthur Portfolio , 21 (1), 1-20.
Dorman, R. L. (2003). Revolt of the provinces: The regionalist movement in America, 1920-1945 . Univ of North Carolina Press.
