Dorothea Lange A Photographer Essay - 1575 Words

Taking photographs may seem simple, but being a photographer is more than browsing through the viewfinder and pushing the exposure button. A photographer needs to know how to analyze the scene, speak in words that language cannot, and reach to the souls of people through a picture. During the Great Depression, many photographers captured the scenes of poverty and grief. However, there was only one photographer that truly captured the souls of Americans. According to Roy Stryker, Dorothea Lange had the most sensitivity and the most rapport with people (Stryker and Wood 41). Dorothea Lange was a phenomenal photographer that seized the hearts of people during the 1930s and beyond, and greatly affected the times of the Great Depression.†¦show more content†¦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 olde r 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 Ââ€" only people Ââ€" all kinds of people, people who paid me and people who didnt (Sufrin 78). In the late 1920s, 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. The stock market crash made her studio photography irrelevant since majority of the population could not afford to have their pictures taken. During this period, she became aware of all the unemployed people around her. It was during the Great Depression where her greatest pieces of works were developed. During the first years of the Depression, fourteen million people were jobless. There was a rich woman known as theShow MoreRelatedBiography of Photographer Dorothea Lange Essay632 Words   |  3 PagesThrough 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 hadRead MoreThe Great Depression And Harsh Weather Conditions During The 1930 S1453 Words   |  6 Pagesboth the Great Depression and harsh weather conditions during the 1930’s causing Americans to suffer through extreme hardship and impoverishment. Many of the migrant farmers were bankrupt, destitute, and struggled to survive. Photographer and photojournalist, Dorothea Lange, captured the dangerous conditions migrant workers and their families endured through her photograph, Migrant Mother. The photograph not only displays a woman and children suffering, but also reveals the determination and willpowerRead MoreThe Dust Bowl During The Great Plains Region1203 Words   |  5 Pagesnowhere. As an act to bring attention to the issues during these times, photographers documented their environments, and tried to summon transformation in the public. 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However, one thing seems to stand out the mostRead MoreAn Analysis of Dorothea Langes Photograph Migrant Mother1662 Words   |  7 PagesMigrant Mother Introduction 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 andRead MoreDorothea Lange Developed the Way for Many of Todays Photojournalists549 Words   |  2 PagesDorothea Lange was born May 26, 1895 in Hoboken, New Jersey, was an American photojournalist and documentary photographer. Her most recognizable work was from the Depression-era for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) (Dorothea). With her photographs it brought an open eye to the nation about how bad the Great Depression really was. Her work in these areas of photography develop the way we see photojournalism today. Lange was born, Dorothea Margaretta Nutzhorn to parents Heinrich NutzhornRead MoreEssay about Modern Photograph and Realism946 Words   |  4 PagesEvans, Factory street in Amsterdam, New York,† and in 1941 Dorothea Lange, Road on the Great White Plains,† these three photographers transformed their landscape photographs into their own distinctive significance through the expression of realism, a movement in modern photography. Shore transforms a common place to an escape, Evans documents the effects of one of the most important historical periods in American social history and Lange uses her photography as a tool for political change. Although