Photojournalist: Dorothea 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

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.”

Dorothea Dix was a woman who stood for the treatment and housing conditions of prisoners and the mentally ill.She observed and documented what she had seen and experienced. Her documentation changed her audiences minds and started the reform.

Intro: Dorothea Dix was the voice for the mad-a leader through her determination to refine the ways that the mentally ill were treated. She was a social reformer of the mentally ill that led to national reforms. Her hard work established rights for these people and changed the ways that hospitals, asylums, and prisons treated them. Through her crusade, she established one of the greatest reforms led single-handedly by a woman. Early Life: Dorothea Dix was born in Hampden, Maine in 1802 as the oldest of three.

Dorothea Puente was not always a Puente. She was born as Dorothea Helen Gray in Redlands, California on January 9, 1929. Trudy Mae Yates, her mother, and Jesse James Gray, her father, according to Dorothea Puente, were alcoholics and abused her. Her father was a cotton-picker, and Puente claimed that her mother was a prostitute. However, how accurate is this information is debatable since Puente has been proven as a compulsive liar. She has lied about her life since she was young so as to make her seem more interesting to others and gain attention. When she was eight years old, her father died from tuberculosis in 1937. Her mother died a year later from a motorcycle accident in 1938. Left as an orphan at a very young age, she was sent to an

“What greater bliss than to look back on days spent in usefulness, in doing good to those around us”(Dorothea Dix Quotes). The same person that said this famous quote started the evolution to a better path for the imprisoned and the mentally ill in the 1800’s. Dorothea Lynde Dix, a famous Civil War nurse made a difference in this world by traveling around the world to give back and help the ill and imprisoned. She gave them better lives as well as taking a stand for women to be able to help the wounded in the Civil War. Dorothea Dix impacted the world by changing perceptions on mentally ill and prisoners.

Dorothea Lynde Dix moved and lived with her wealthy grandmother, also named Dorothea Dix, to isolate from her abusive and alcoholic parents. It wasn’t soon after that she began to educate young women and children. She was already contributing to society when she established a school to educate poor and neglected children. Dix’s school educated hundreds of children, but her regressing health forced her to discontinue her school. However, this regressing health sought her to travel to Europe, where she met several lobbyists. Dix was heavily inspired by the actions of these lobbyists. While at a Sunday-school class in East Cambridge House of Correction, she found a

a) Describe the major influences that led to the rise to prominence of your chosen personality in her nation’s history.

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.

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.

Through out the Great Depression there were many photographers, but one of the best was Dorothea Lange. Lange was born on the 25th of May in 1895 in Hoboken, New Jersey as the first child of Joan and Henry Nutzhorn. She decided to become a photographer at the age of 18. She studied photography at Columbia University in New York. At the age of 20 she began to travel the world. Later in life she settled down in San Francisco, California, where she met her first husband, artist Maynard Dixon. She had had to children Daniel (1925) and John (1928). She died on the 11th of October in 1916. Even Though some people believe Dorothea Lange was not a great photographer, Dorothea was because she caused great inspiration of those going through the hard

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.

Being associated with the surrealist movement, and more specifically, an elite group of surrealists, Dorothea Tanning stands out. Her desire to create both poetry and paintings which can be interpreted as having no exit, is what makes her works different from other surrealists. With the ambition to create a piece that is interpreted as having no exit, Dorothea Tanning’s Birthday, 1942 the painting exemplifies an illusion of power and isolation.