Dorothea Lange and Social Documentary Photography

Dorothea Lange was one of the first photographers whose work really showed me the power of photography.  Here is a picture of Lange from 1936.  What does this picture tell us about her?

Lange is considered by some to be the most accomplished social documentary photographer in American history.  According to Wikipedia, the definition of social documentary photography is:

 

a socially critical genre of photography dedicated to showing the life of underprivileged or disadvantaged people

If you want to learn more about social documentary photography today, SocialDocumentary.net has many thought-provoking examples.

Lange's most famous picture is probably this one, taken in California in 1936, called "Migrant Mother."

Years later when interviewed about this photo, Lange said:

"I saw and approached the hungry and desperate mother, as if drawn by a magnet. I do not remember how I explained my presence or my camera to her, but I do remember she asked me no questions. I made five exposures, working closer and closer from the same direction. I did not ask her name or her history. She told me her age, that she was thirty-two. She said that they had been living on frozen vegetables from the surrounding fields, and birds that the children killed. She had just sold the tires from her car to buy food. There she sat in that lean- to tent with her children huddled around her, and seemed to know that my pictures might help her, and so she helped me. There was a sort of equality about it." 
        From: Popular Photography, Feb. 1960


You may work by yourself of with a partner:

Go to the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Catalogue and search Dorothea Lange to access her work.  Take your time looking through the results.  After about 10 minutes, choose a photo that speaks to you.  Post a blog entry that includes the photo as well as your response.  Use the questions below to help you formulate your response.

• What do you see, feel, and think?
• What sort of response do you think Lange wanted you to have?
• What story is the photograph telling?
• What details in the photograph help to tell the story?
• What role does light vs. dark play in this photograph?