Dorothea Lange was a pioneering photojournalist who documented the Great Depression in the United States. She began her career in photography in the 1920s but found her calling documenting migrant workers and families during the Depression. Her most famous photograph, "Migrant Mother," captured the hardship of mothers during this era. Lange worked to humanize those suffering through economic hardship by interviewing subjects and gaining their trust before photographing them. Her compassionate portraits brought awareness to the struggles of ordinary Americans during the Depression and established her as a leading photojournalist of the time.

1. Dorothea Lang’s Photojournalist Profile
1895-1965
• Photograph by: Katya Ozeryan
• http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126289455

2. Career Path
Lange began working right after high school for
different photographers and in those also included,
leading portrait photographer, Arnold Genthe. During
the beginning of her career, Lange did not have any
photography experience but did have documenting and
writing experience. Once learning about photography
this leaded Lange in becoming a photojournalism. Later
on Lange began running a successful studio.

3. The Depression Era
Lange’s Era begin in the 1920’s in which she mostly focused in
photographing Americans. She then began to adjust her camera
to preparing to take pictures for the great depression which was
nearby. While Lange was married to Maynard Dixon whom she
had two children with, their marriage came to an end she met
her new husband to be Paul Taylor. Over the years Lange and
Taylor traveled together and worked as a team. While her
husband Taylor wrote reports she photographed the people they
met. During this work Lange’s popular portrait included “Migrant
Mother” which was a powerful image of mothers going through
a great economic depression with their children. Lange focused
her career in migrants working in a farm during the great
depression and interviewing individuals as well.

4. Motivation
Like many photojournalists, Lange was motivated by wanting
to share her experience with the world and also be able to
help other people and she was very sensitive and careful by
the people she chose to photograph. In Lange's own words
she describe her motivation; "I have always been motivated
not by something inside me that needed to be expressed but
rather by the wonder of something I see that I want to share
with the rest of the world. I think of myself as a chronicler of
my time and feel impelled to probe and probe into the depths
of society in search of the essence of truth."
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12628
9455

5. Technology
Garflex Camera
Lange used a Garflex camera with
a 4x5 film size. She had a good
handle on the camera and didn't
seem to have any difficult in using
it. She had a passion for it and
was born to do photography as it
was natural to her. Lange had
many quotes and she included
one that speaks about the
camera it self. "One should really
use the camera as though
tomorrow you'd be stricken
blind." http://www.electricedg
e.com/greymatter/archives/0000
6191.htm
"The stovepipe hood looks down on a reflex mirror that
pops up when you take the picture. The shutter release
is operated by the thumb on your left hand. One of the
reasons I was attracted to this camera was the lens. It's
a Carl Zeiss Jenna Tessar 150mm f4.5. My 4x5 Graflex
has a Carl Zeiss Jenna Tessar 210mm f3.5. Similar lenses
that should paint in a similar manner. These Graflexes
were probably made in the 1930s."

6. Ethics
When speaking about ethical dilemmas I can bring up several
things that I've learned about Lange as I've become very familiar
with her life and career. One of the dilemmas Lange ran into was
being a wife, a mother of two and yet she was very independent
and wanted to go out there with a camera and take photographs
of people in the city. Going back to before Lange began to work
in photography she always knew since she was a young girl that
she wanted to someday become a photographer although she
never once even held a camera. She simply developed a passion
for it in her early years and went and followed her dream even
after having a family. Her focus was the great depression and I
couldn't have thought of anyone better to do this job during
those difficult times. She had the heart of a gold and she
respected everyone.

7. Bias
When speaking about Lange's biases, I am going to say that
she followed her instincts all the time. In her own words she
said " I think, all my decisions right along, even working in the
field when I was doing documentary work, have been
instinctive; and I trust my instincts. I don't distrust them".
When Lange traveled to California during the beginning of the
great depression she knew that things would slowly begin to
getting worst and she knew that she will be there
documenting and taking photographs of people suffering
during those difficult times but she knew that she would be
able to do it without anyone thinking any less of her.
http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-
interview-dorothea-lange-11757

8. Photography Style
Before showing you some of the photography taken by Dorothea
Lange, listen to this 7 minute story in which they speak about
Lange's work and her most famous quotes.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId
=126289455

9. Photograph by Dorothea Lange
Photo taken by: Dorothea Lange, during the depression,
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId
=126289455
Mother with her two children
Principles
While looking at the above image i see a
helpless mother with two children
leaning against her shoulders which
shows that they fully depend on her.
Although i can't see the children's face, i
can tell the children were weak, tired and
possibly even hungry. This image reminds
me of many other photographs I've come
across during the great depression and
also photographs during a time of war in
the early 1920's. I can tell by the lighting
and color of the photograph that this was
taken in the 1920's century. The
abstraction of this photograph also
speaks for itself, these photograph
definitely represents tough times.

10. Photograph by Dorothea Lange
Photo taken by Dorothea Lange,
http://historyinphotos.blogspot.com/2012/05/dorothe
a-lange.html
By Dorothea Lange
Principles
This image capture my attention because
I know that during the great depression
those fortunate enough to have a job,
were working at a farm. This women
appears to be working hard at a farm in
order to provide her family food and a
home. This image is simple and I say this
because it doesn't seem as Lange had to
make too much effort to take this photo
as by the look of it, it was day time,
sunny and the image looks soft. The
expression I get from this photo is a
strong woman working hard in a farm
and back then it didn't matter whether
you were a men or women, you did what
you had to do to provide a living.

11. Photograph by Dorothea Lange
Photograph taken by Dorothea Lange,
https://www.ksu.edu/english/nelp/childlit/1930s/lang
e_child_migr.html
By Dorothea Lange
Principles
The expression i get on this photo is
looking at four kids shoeless sitting in
dirt. Behind them is a home that looks
close to been demolished, who is to
say that's not their home. In looking at
their body language it seems as they
ran out of options to do anything as
there isn't really anything for them to
do there as by the look of it, clearly
they were poor and they'll be lucky to
have two meals a day. This image was
also focus on the kids while we were
able to gain a more feeling of how they
really live by looking at the background
of the photograph.

12. Photograph by Dorothea Lange
Photograph taken by Dorothea Lange,
http://www.kuriositas.com/2011/11/depression-era-
photography-of-dorothea.html
By Dorothea Lange
Principles
The focus on this photograph was
in the two children and mom. My
expression on this photograph is
watching a poor family standing
from what it seems in front of
their home. I see clothes hanging
in the background and the mom
looks like she's in a lot of stress
and tension by her body
language. She has one of her
arms holding on to part of her
shoulder and neck and that
shows the amount of stress she is
under.

13. Impact
All of the images by Dorothea Lange affected society by
never forgetting that at one point in life there was an
era in which there was really a great depression. While
there are many images to proof of this and especially
by looking at Lange's work there are still living people
that can tell you all about that. I feel that America has
ran into those moment of fears of America going
through a depression when the economy and market
has been close to crashing.

14. My major at AIC is Psychology
Many of the photojournalist career relates somewhat
to my major. This is because, you're able to relate to
people's pain and way of living and by been
sympathetic and caring shows the psychological part of
it. I want to become a psychologist because I care
about people and want to help them overcome
personal experiences that still to this day keeps them
from moving on.

15. Viewpoints
People had a hard time understanding why Dorothea Lange focus her
photojournalism career in the great depression. They couldn't understand
how she could do it. Prior to Lange taking photographs of people that by the
look of them they were clearly suffering, she would ask if it was okay for her
to take a photo of them. Some people would feel the need to pose and many
just stood still as if she wasn't eve there and you can witness that by looking
at many of her photographs. There is an interview by Richard D. Doud
interviewing Dorothea Lange which he asked her several questions over and
over as he was still trying to understand where Lange was coming from and
how did she make it so far with so little or no experience at all. The interview
took place on May 22, 1964 in New York City. This was roughly a year before
she passed away. This was a great interview and Lange touched many points
explaining why she was who she was. I will discuss more about her in the next
slide. In the next few slides you will learn about different point of views.
http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-
dorothea-lange-11757

16. Several different viewpoints
Richard Doud was one of the people that didn’t understand how
Dorothea went from taking portraits to then taking photographs
of people. He hard a hard time understanding the sudden
change. Dorothea felt that she had many talents and that she
will put each one of them to use at the time she felt it will be
useful. During an interview Lang said “I feel myself more like a
cipher, a person that can be used for lots of things and I like that.
But I don't feel that I personally stand for anything so great, you
know”
http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-
interview-dorothea-lange-11757

17. More viewpoints
Many have said that for those
that couldn’t understand what
took place during the depression,
simply look at Lange’s
photographs and you will get a
great image and idea of how bad
it was during those difficult times.
Lange's most famous photograph
is referred to as "Migrant
Mother“ said Linda Gordon.
http://www.npr.org/templates/st
ory/story.php?storyId=12628945
5
In this photograph you will see a
migrant mother. One of the most
popular photos of Dorothea Lange.
http://www.art.com/products/p15241907-sa-
i3619146/dorothea-lange-migrant-mother-florence-
thompson-and-children-photographed-by-dorothea-
lange.htm

18. My Thesis
Dorothea had a very interesting life and she chose to focus her photography
in the depression because she knew she could do it and that’s where her
heart was. She could have chosen to stay in her studio taking portraits but she
really wanted to be out there with the people. Lang was married and had two
kids but that didn’t keep her from pursuing what really did it for her which
was covering stories and taking photographs of people working hard or those
that were just helpless. In looking at many of Lange’s photos it was clear to
see that she had a heart of gold. You can tell that she wasn’t hiding behind a
camera taking candid shots of people, she was right in front of them and
people seemed to fine with it. She would ask before if it was okay to take a
picture before taking the photograph and she would introduce herself as well.
It seems to me that she valued people, respected people and was able to
make them feel comfortable around her and get to know them in a more
personal level. Lange learned a lot from working with several photographers
and she always knew what she wanted to do since she was a young little girl.
Nothing got in her way, and because of her passion towards her career she
was able to make a difference in the photojournalism world. Lange died of
Cancer on 10/11/1965.