Lange: The Most Important Photograph By Lange

She soon opened up her own portrait studio. She was very successful in her studio and she even established a group of friends for the first time in her life. In 1920, she married Maynard Dixon who was twenty years older then her. She became one of the most popular portrait photographers in San Francisco. When she went on a trip to Arizona, she took pictures outside of her studio for the first time. This was where she first encountered people who were swallowed in poverty, hopelessness, and humiliation. She soon came to a realization. Dorothea Lange said, "It suddenly came to me that what I had to do was take pictures and concentrate upon people – only people – all kinds of people, people who paid me and people who didn't" (Sufrin 78). In the late 1920's, she had two sons. It was hard for her to juggle being a mother, wife, and a photographer, so her children were often boarded out. As the Great Depression slowly approached, tensions grew in her marriage with Dixon.

To begin with, Lange helped perceive the poor living conditions of the 1900’s through her photo of the migrant mother and three children. For instance, Lange with her photo of the migrant mother helped raise awareness, for the federal government gave the pea pickers camp, where the migrant mother had been distinguished, “twenty thousand pounds of food”. (Starr 48) The photo of the unfortunate pea pickers helped people realize how hopeless they really were. This creating a willingness to help. Showing Lange's photography ability to create empathy through a simple photo. In addition, the mother was so desperate for help that when the picture was taking place, “there she sat in the lean-to-tent” motionless. (Starr 47) The migrant mother was so

To begin with, description is utilized to show that pictures are worth more than words. In Lange’s image, the woman looks exhausted and the children seem saddened. Viewers of the image see this by their facial expressions. For instance, two of the children are looking away from the photographer and the woman has no smile on her face. Moreover, onlookers observe how people lived during the Great Depression in the west coast. Viewers of the image see this by their clothing. For example, the woman and children are wearing tattered, dirty clothing. The overall picture represents what people went through during the Great Depression without ever telling the audience it was taken during this

Dorothea Lange became a well-known photographer with pictures of the Dust Bowl. According to Garland 2003 her photography obtained government relief for Dust Bowl migrants because she “visually demonstrated the hunger, poverty, hardship, and the plight of the migrants.”

Photography is everywhere in this World today. Advancements throughout the 1930’s where emotions were extremely impacted, helped to set the base for future advancements and ideas that would lie ahead for generations to come. The impact that photography had on the United States during the Great Depression in a time of dire struggle was unlike any other. This movement was able to document images that may never be able to be matched again in its uniqueness and emotional

Before starting this project, I knew very little about photography, photographers, or exactly how much impact photographical images have had on our society. I have never taken a photography class, or researched too in depth about specific pictures or photographers. This project has allowed me to delve deeper into the world of photography in order to understand just how much influence pictures can have over society’s beliefs, emotions, and understandings’. I have have chosen two highly influential photographers, Diane Arbus and Dorothea Lange, who I have found to both resonate with me and perfectly capture human emotions in way that moves others.

The image I choose is a photograph titled, Mulberry Street, which was photographed by photographer Sid Grossman (1913-1955). As part of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, “Photographs from the 1940s and 1950s” collection, this photograph was captured in 1948. Grossman photography represents more of an everyday life in America vs. tradition photography. When you first glance at this photograph it seems like the main focal point is of a young boy probably around thirteen to fifteen years old at the fair but as you stair at the photograph a bit longer you notice the boys face is actually blurry. The way Grossman took this picture does remind me of a few photographs my parents took of my siblings and me living in the moment not posing for the picture and then come to realize the picture is blurry. The meaning of this image can represent by us living in a fast-paced society because yet we still need time to enjoy the moments.

Ellis Island was the gateway to America; the mass of immigrant’s were the subjects for his photographs. It is amazing that Hine was able to capture such powerful photographs considering the equipment and subject matter. Hine even commented on how it was a struggle at first to work the outdated equipment around the chaos of Ellis Island. “The camera was a modified box type with no swingback and when one wanted to make a vertical composition after doing a horizontal, he had to unscrew the box and turn it down onto its side.” Even though it was a struggle Lewis Hine’s photographs of Ellis Island capture a tender moment that most photographers could not capture. I find it amazing that Hine was able to talk people into stopping and allowing him to take their photo. With the people he stopped he was very good at capturing the drama of the scene. This can be seen in his photograph titled Italian family looking for lost baggage (1905 figure 1) This photograph like most of Hines’s from Ellis Island shows the uncertainty that immigrants experienced. The mother’s face in this image is what draws me in the most. The look of fear and strength within her face is so powerful. The composition of the photo keeps you moving though out the image and brings you back to the mother’s face. Another powerful photo from Ellis Island is Italian Madonna (1905 figure 2). The connection between mother and child is beautiful in this image. The relief on

Taylor hired Lange because of her honesty she showed in her style of photos and because she felt passionate about her work, which is parallel to what Coles states: a document is done with the bias of the documentarian. Another source that strongly supports and illuminates Coles thoughts about Lange and human actuality is Louis Gawthrop’s article: “Her fears are our fears, her visions, our visions, her images, our images--of the homeless, the poor, the ever-growing, functionally illiterate underclass, the continuing fragmentation of the family, the evil of discrimination, and the steady erosion of the human capacity to love one's neighbor” (64). Lange feels very badly for the children, and wants to do whatever she can to portray the sadness and despair occurring during the dustbowl era. Lange snaps a photo at a specific angel, with optimal lighting, having the subjects pose to her command, to create a story that Lange imagines in her head when looking through the lenses. All of the latter are constructed with her own thoughts of what sadness, starvation, and desperation are. As I mentioned in the introduction, Coles says that human actuality is a clear product of the documentarian. Dorthea Lange and Walker Evans are both credited for their documentary work.

Mothers’ love and care The two images, “Marie Antoinette and her Children” by Vigee-Lebrun and “Destitute Pea Pickers in California” by Dorothea Lange, show the obvious differences in the appearances of characters, color, and background. In fact, the similarity of the two images makes it easy for the viewers to see the differences and to compare and contrast. While the images are both show the living conditions of the family of four, Marie Antoinette's image shows a great wealthy life with the joys expressed in the mother’s face while the Migrant mother's image shows a destitute life of a migrant family with a mother’s worry face. Lebrun’s painting shares the mother’s happiness when her family is having a prosperous life while Lange’s photo reveals the anxieties of a mother when her children are having a hard life.

When the United States joined WWII in 1941 here was a relocation of the Japanese- Americans. Dorothea Lange was hired shortly after this took place by the War Relocation Authority (WRA). She was hired to show there new living styles in there new there new living quarters. The photographs she took showed there new neighborhoods, processing centers, and there whole camp facilities. So Lange could capture the spirit of the camps, she made it so her images showed courage and dignity. Most of the photos she took here were censored by the federal government.

Dorothea Lange's Migrant Mother depicts destitute pea pickers in California, centering on Florence Owens Thompson, age 32, a mother of seven children, in Nipomo, California, March 1936.

Dorothea Lange is an experienced photographer, born on the 26th day of March 1895. Her works have been a source of insight for many people and this has proved very effective to contemporary photographers. There are many works that this woman did during her time and it is important to acknowledge them. Migrant Mother is one of these works and the applause that it has gotten from the viewers clearly portrays expertness at its best. The photo revolves around the life and family of one Florence Owens Williams and was taken in 1936 in California Florida. Going through the various elements of this photograph is effective in ensuring that one understands the deep concepts that revolve around it.

I have learned that the migrant family photograph is very sad since they are poor and they did not have nothing to eat. The photograph gives some people empathy since they have gone threw the same thing and they have felt what the migrant family was feeling. I agree that Lange took the photograph from a detached perspective because they might have been shy if Lange took the photograph from a close perspective. Also the migrant mother and her children might have been very uncomfortable taken the photograph up close because they didn't want someone to be in their business. I am for that Lange took the photo from a detached perspective because she probably didn't really want to bother them. I am also for it because in the text paragraph 3 it says

Annie Leibovitz is a portrait photographer who is the third child of six children. It was amazing on how she spent a lot of time in a care during childhood, so she thought of the window as a way to see the world in 2D or as a photograph. Also, when she was a child, the camera felt like another member of the family since so many photos were taken. Family photos felt sentimental. This reminds me on how I sometimes like to keep every single picture since it brings sentimental memories, so I find it hard to throw a photograph away. Annie took one of her many early photos in the Philippines during the Vietnam War. I thought that this was rally nice since I was born in the Philippines and seen the complex buildings and beautiful sunsets or landscapes