Lange, Dorothea

Lange, Dorothea, 1895–1965, American photographer, b. Hoboken, N.J. From 1916 until 1932, Lange operated a portrait studio. During the Depression she took her camera into the streets of San Francisco where she began to make exceptionally powerful images of people, which speak of the time and the world in which they were made; among the best known of these is White Angel Breadline (1933). During the 1930s, the state of California commissioned a report on the way of life of migrant laborers. Lange made the report in collaboration with her future husband, Paul Taylor, an economics professor. Lange's photographs emphasized the laborer's dignity and pride in an environment of starkest poverty. The report resulted in the establishment of state-built camps for migrants. From 1935 to 1942 she worked in the Farm Security Administration, documenting rural America. Her photographs were reproduced in thousands of magazines and newspapers, helping to create a national awareness of the farmers' plight and profoundly influencing American photojournalism by their simplicity and directness. At the outbreak of war with Japan, Lange documented the mass evacuation of Japanese-Americans to concentration camps. In 1945 she covered the United Nations Conference in San Francisco, and collapsed from overwork. She did not photograph again until 1951, when she began to travel, producing photo-essays for Life magazine, e.g., “Three Mormon Towns” (1954) and “The Irish Country People” (1955). Lange's books include An American Exodus (with Paul Taylor; 1939) and The American Country Woman (1966).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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