Lange photographs migrant pea-picker, year-old Florence Thompson with three of her children. The farm crops had frozen and there was no work for the homeless pickers, so Thompson sold the tires from her car to buy food, which was supplemented with birds killed by her children. In this poignant image where Thompson looks through the camera, Lange demonstrates her skill of being able to see her subjects both as individuals and as representatives for bigger issues.
Migrant Mother became a symbol of strife and fortitude to millions of other Americans at the time. After this image was taken Lange informed the authorities of the plight of the pea-picking camp and they sent 20, pounds of food. When setting up a shot, Lange often moved slowly, fiddling with her camera and the lighting until her subjects relaxed. She co-founded Aperture, a small publishing house that produces a periodical and high-end photography books.
She also accompanied her husband on his work-related assignments in Pakistan, Korea and Vietnam, among other places, documenting what she saw along the way. We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives.
American photographer Richard Avedon was best known for his work in the fashion world and for his minimalist, large-scale character-revealing portraits. Singer and songwriter k. In , astronaut and astrophysicist Sally Ride became the first American woman in space aboard the space shuttle Challenger. Aaron Douglas was an African American painter and graphic artist who played a leading role in the Harlem Renaissance of the s.
In she married the painter Maynard Dixon, with whom she had two sons. After , with the advent of the Great Depression, Lange focused on social issues, taking a series of photographs of unemployed and homeless people - now seen as ground-breaking documentary photography - which led to her being employed by the Federal Resettlement Administration, later known as the Farm Security Administration FSA.
Along the way, she divorced Dixon and married social scientist Paul Schuster Taylor. It was Taylor who educated Lange further in socio-political matters, and with whom she documented rural poverty during the period she took photos while he did the interviews and the economic research.
Her photographs - which she circulated free of charge to newspapers across the country - quickly became famous and were instrumental in bringing the plight of displaced farm families and rural migrant workers to public attention. Her photo of Florence Owens Thompson at the migrant camp in Nipomo, led to the rapid arrival of Federal aid to prevent starvation. Lange stayed with the Farm Security Administration until In this year she and Taylor published the important book An American Exodus.
In Willard Van Dyke exhibited some of her photographs in a gallery in Oakland. Paul S. Taylor, an economist, surveying the self-help organizations across the country visited the gallery and was very impressed with her work.
He later asked Dorothea and several other photographers, including Imogen Cunningham to document his visit to the Unemployed Exchange Association that was established north of San Francisco. He was hired to observe and report the conditions of the people.
He wanted a photographer, but not just any photographer. He asked for Dorothea Lange and she gladly joined his team. She closed her studio in and traveled with Paul. Paul brought three children from his previous marriage and Dorothea had custody of her two boys. The new family, however, did not keep Paul and Dorothea from continuing their work.
By this time Paul was back to teaching and Dorothea needed an assistant. Her work was first exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in She photographed all across California, the West Coast and the South.
In Dorothea became very ill. For almost ten years she hardly worked. Severe stomach pains prevented her to continue her documentary work. She was often confined to her house, however Dorothea enjoyed cooking, gardening and sewing and spending time with her growing family and friends. When she was able, she would produce photo essays or write articles, including two she collaborated with her son, Dan Dixon, for Life.
In , Paul was sent to Asia to study the lives of rural families and Dorothea traveled with him, of course taking her camera.
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