This image is probably her most well know. It is called "Migrant Mother."
"Next Time Try The Train"
"Shack"
Dorothea Lange had a very large influence on the world of photography and photojournalism. Many of her works were from the era of the Great Depression. I am interested in her work and this kind of work because it, in a way, goes with my project I am working on in darkroom photography. I am shooting images of "old" landscapes and buildings, etc. I am working on capturing the things that will be gone in 20-30 years. In the same manner Dorothea Lange when captured the time period that is now gone of the Great Depression. She photographed everyday people in their environment. No posing or backdrops, just natural. These images often dealt with poverty, migrant workers, and people who were unemployed or homeless. Her images, in my opinion, need no words to go tell the story of these people and the land. They evoke many emotions while viewing them. In her case, I suppose a picture IS worth a thousand words.
Dorothea Lange seemed to have a knack for "disappearing", as many good documentary photographers do. While Migrant Mother was a directed (and some would argue staged) photograph, we get a sense of directness. In other words, it seems we are looking directly at Migrant mother (or rather, she is looking at us) versus a *photograph* of migrant mother. Some photographers can't escape a "once removed" perspective. We see the subjects depicted, but we also get a sense of the photographer's presence. In contrast, Lang disappears. Lange succeeds in providing an immediacy. How did she do it? Point of view is part of it, I think.
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