1. A Presentation by Emma Porter
Dorothea Lange
A Presentation by Emma Porter

2. Dorothea Lange Born May 26, 1895 in Hoboken, New Jersey
Died October 11, 1965 of cancer
Moved to New York City when she was 18
Moved to San Francisco, California where she started a successful and upscale portrait studio

3. Her Childhood Had Polio at age 7
Was inspired by her mother and grandmother
Decided she wanted to be a photographer at 18
Her polio left her disabled for life, with a withered lower left leg and a twisted foot which enabled to be able to put her foot down as she walked
Her mother and grandmother taught her how to use her eye, because it is her most powerful tool
She decided she wanted to be a photographer while she was 18 and in a training school for teachers in New York

4. Her Family She had two husbands Had two son Maynard Dixon
Paul Schuster Taylor
Had two son
Daniel Dixon
John Dixon
Lange was married to Maynard Dixon for 15 years
He had many extramarital affairs
He was a renowned painter
She was with Paul Schuster Taylor for 30 years (until her death)
She had no children with him
He worked as a professor at the University of California at Berkeley
Lange placed her children in what essentially was foster care many times while she was on the road for work (her husband came with her many times)
Her children felt resentment towards her about this and they didn’t blame their father
The photo above is of Lange and Paul Schuster Taylor

5. Lange’s Photography Jobs
She Took Photographs…
For the U.S. Farm Security Administration
At the Japanese-American Internment Camps
In 1935 Lange was invited by Roy Stryker to join the federally sponsored Farm Security Administration
It was a group of photographers
Was hired by the war relocation authority and the Office of war authority to take pictures of the internment camps
Later in her life she went to countries such as Japan, Egypt, and Indonesia to photograph their developing world

6. "She would walk through the field and talk to people, asking simple questions - 'What are you picking? ... How long have you been here? When do you eat lunch? ... I'd like to photograph you,' she'd say, and by now it would be 'Sure, why not,' and they would pose a little, but she would sort of ignore it, walk around until they forgot us and were back at work.”
-Ron Partridge
The quote is talking about how she want natural pictures of the Farmers –didn’t want any posing or the subjects looking at the camera
She was friendly with her subjects
The quote was said by Ron Partrtidge

7. Her Photography Her photographs became very symbolic
Her photographs were meant to show people who Americans were
No artist did more than Lange to advance the democratic vision
Defined the national agenda. The agenda aimed to restore prosperity and prevent further depressions, to alleviate poverty and reduce inequality.
Her photos were meant to show who Americans really were –the variety of people including people if all genders and ages, all religions, all social classes, all races, and everything else.
Her work created an opening for the expanding and developing American democracy

8. Some of her most progressive and well-known photographs…

9. This photograph is the one that brought her attention to the national crisis that is the depression

10. Young migratory mother, originally from Texas
Young migratory mother, originally from Texas. On the day before the photograph was made she and her husband traveled 35 miles each way to pick peas. They worked 5 hours each and together earned $2.25. They have two young children Live in auto camp.

11. Between Weedpatch and Lamont, Kern County, California
Between Weedpatch and Lamont, Kern County, California. Children living in camp

12. Cheap Auto Camp Housing for Citrus Workers

13. Members of the Mochida family awaiting evacuation bus
Members of the Mochida family awaiting evacuation bus. Identification tags were used to aid in keeping a family unit intact during all phases of evacuation. Mochida operated a nursery and five greenhouses on a two-acre site in Eden Township." In 1942 Executive Order 9066 ordered the removal of 110,000 civilians of Japanese descent, including 71,000 American citizens, from the western United States, placing them in internment camps.

14. A crowd of onlookers on the first day of evacuation from the Japanese quarter in San Francisco, who themselves will be evacuated within three days

15. This is Lange’s most famous photograph of Florence Thompson and two of her children

16. A Few More Photographs…