Dorothea Lange: Photojournalists Of The Great Depression

Dorothea Lange was born on the 20th of May, in 1895, in the city of New Jersey. She gained a reputation for her dazzling photographs of the Great Depression period. When she was young, she suffered from polio, a paralysis, which left her incapacitated and disabled for the rest of her days. Nevertheless, her limitation did not stop her from executing brilliant portraits of those who were devastated by the Great Depression negative impacts. Lange was recognized as one of the most authentic documentary photographers and photojournalists of the 1930s.

In August of 1935, Roy Stryker, a well-renowned photographer, advanced with a job offer to Lange with the Resettlement Administration, which she took the very instance. Lange documented societies

The “White Angel Breadline” was one the most remarkable photographs taken by Lange, as she found a balance between a collective photograph of the many destitute men and an individual one, focusing on one man only. The "White Angel Breadline" was her first ever photography, coincidently on her first of day of work, on documenting the Depression era in San Francisco.

In what concerns the techniques and equipment, there is very little to say, considering Dorothea was a person characterized by simplicity but still could bring brilliance in everything she poured her into. Lange preferred to give emotion to her portraits, to show the "bigger picture", which was something she aimed to do necessary.

Lange photographed social inequalities and disparities amongst the migrant workers in Dust Bowl. She exposed to the public, those whose existence was often disregarded and desperately needed aid. Alongside with the government agencies, Dorothea helped reform the conditions of the poor, those she photographed for a living.

There are clear similarities between Lange's work and the readings appointed to us in the semester, specially in “My Ántonia” written by Willa Cather, Faulkner’s “As I Lay Dying”, “Tender is the night” by Fitzgerald and lastly, Toni Morrison’s book “The Bluest

First of all, Modernism was present in Faulkner’s books, as he represented a modern world that had fallen to collapse. On the other hand, Lange captured the emotional truth of those affected by the wars. Second of all, there are traits of social economic portraits (white/poor) and Southern culture in “As I lay Dying”, in the same way that Dorothea depicted the life of the poor. Third of all, Faulkner portrayed the suffering and poverty of many, depicted in the Bundren family, which is similar to Lange who photographed the human suffering and rural poverty. Finally, there are clear evidences of the Great Depression, just as Lange’s photos perceived the impact and consequences of the Great Depression to the American