Dorothea Lange is one of the most influential documentary photographers and photojournalist of the twentieth century. She was born on May 26, 1895 in Hoboken, New Jersey and died of esophageal cancer at the age of 70, on October 11, 1965, in San Francisco, California. Her birth name was Dorothea Margaretta Nutzhorn but after a few years, she dropped her middle and last name and adopted her mother’s last name in retribution of the abandonment of her father when she was 12 years old. This event enacted a big role in her life and made her the woman she was about to become celebrated. An equally significant event that also marked her life was when she contracted polio at seven years old. Ultimately, this disease caused her to have a weakened …show more content…
This portrait clearly defines the personality of the work of Lange. This one photograph reflects the situation of the people during the crisis, but one can also absorb that the mother has not lost her dignity, however the mother also reflects an uncertainty about her tomorrow and the lives of her children. It is truly amazing how one photograph can represent the full aspect of the moment in time, a dark period of the entire calamity of a country. With this one picture, Lange was able to show society, what maybe not everyone had faced previously the poverty and desolation that was causing the economic crisis. This representative photograph of the Great Depreciation captured gently and beautifully the hardship and pain of what so many Americans were experiencing during this …show more content…
Lange was hired by the Farm Security Administration with a group of excellent photographers, to publicize their activities. Their task was to document the prevailing poverty in rural areas of the country. Specifically, to get the support of citizens of non-agricultural states, which should provide financial support to the FSA plans. It was also a way to document the social assistance undertaken during this time. This photo was taken in California in 1936 in a refugee camp where everyone had little food and the prospect for jobs were