Dorothea Lange was known for her photographs during the Great Depression. Her documentaries and photos were influential and told the real story of the Great Depression. Her images were icons of the 1930's era.Dorothea Lange is native to New Jersey, her parents were Joan Lange and Henry Nutzhorn. Her father left her mother and her when she was twelve. She dropped her middle name, and switched her last name from her fathers to her mothers maiden name. In 1902, at the age of seven, Dorothea was diagnosed with polio. At the time there was no medicines or treatments for polio. Dorothea was lucky and only ended up with a permanent limp on her right leg.Dorothea Lange was taught and educated in photography by Clarence H. White in New York City. She was very talented and many photography studios in New York invited her photos in their galaries. In 1919 she opened a very successful portrait studio in San Francisco, just a year after moving there. Just a year after becoming a very succussful studio owner she found love. In 1920 she married Maynard Dixon. Maynard was a very well known, noted western painter. Five years after they got married they had their first child then four years later they had another. Two boys, Daniel Rhoades Dixon and John Eaglesfeather Dixon.
Dorothea Lange's work mainly focused on homeless people, the unemployed, immigrants, and displaced farm families. She got really close to her subjects. She asked them their stories and captured the truth. She wanted people to see what was really happening. Thats why she went to the streets and captured some the most sad and unbelievable parts of the 1920's and 30's. Her photography of these people led to her job with the Resettlement Administration, which was later called the Farm Security Administration. She later divorced Maynard Dixon and married agricultural economist Paul Schuster Taylor. For five years, together they documented poverty and the exploitation migrate workers. The public really started noticing her work and it was showcased in newspapers all over America.Lange later went on to document and take photos of WWII. Nothing she had ever done before prepared her for the brutal and grusome photos she would be taking. She took picture of concentration camps and more. Some of her photos were kept by the army because they were so specific and critical to the war. Throughout her life she won awards and was very successful. Towards the end of her life she started to become more and more weak and her health got worst. On October 11, 1965, Dorothea Lange died of esophageal cancer at the age of 70. Her work went on. In 1972 the Whitney Museum used 27 of her photos to showcase in ther exhibit over the Japanese Internment during World War II.
Comments