Dorthea Lange

Dorothea Lange• 1895-1965• "an extraordinary

phenomenon in photography.”

• Photography lifelong dream

• Columbia University• Indian Tribes/

migrants• First famous picture

“White Angel Breadline”

“photography is not an end in itself, but a means of exploring the world so as to improve it.”

Dorothea Lange Cont.

• Govt. noticed power in photos- job U.S. Resettlement Administration document effects of depression on American agriculture

• Documentary photography

• Inspired by the Great Depression

• Looked at something and found beauty in it

Dorothea Lange Cont.

• Goal: capture America on film

• Capture physical and emotional circumstances of the Great Depression - “Migrant Mother”

• Pictures showed suffering in everyday life

White Angel Breadline

COMPOSITIONAL ELEMENTS:

•Rule of thirds

•Framing – surrounded by people

White Angel Breadline

•Main Focal point center quadrant

•Clasped hands and cup- pray for food/ money

•Hat and cup white so stand out

•Man facing opposite direction

•I like how she captured the emotion which portrays economic hardship

Migrant Mother

Migrant Mother

COMPOSITIONAL ELEMENTS:

I like how anxiety is captured:

BACK

•hand to face

•Childrens’ heads turned away•Baby: whitest part of picture yet most unnoticed

•Wrinkled forehead and eyebrows

I Am An American

COMPOSITIONAL ELEMENTS:

•Lines – signs, store windows

•Black and white adds to old effect

•Main focus on “I AM AN AMERICAN” b/c white stands out

On Strike

COMPOSITIONAL ELEMENTS:

•Balance

•Black and white adds to old effect

•Powerful words on sign- stand out

•California migrant worker

Pledge Of Allegiance

COMPOSITIONAL ELEMENTS:

•Japanese-American children

•Smiles on faces show innocence

•Black and white adds to old effect

The Road West, New Mexico•Simplicity

•Black and white adds to old effect

•Emptiness

•Focuses in bottom, blurs towards top of photo

"Slept in a bed all my life long, till now--sleeping on the ground."

COMPOSITIONAL ELEMENTS:

•Look of despair

•Black and white adds to old effect

•Blurry

Migratory Cotton Picker

• COMPOSITIONAL ELEMENTS:

• Black and white adds to old effect

• Hand covering face- texture in hand

• Close up view to show detail

• Very dark in eye area

Toward Los Angeles

COMPOSITIONAL ELEMENTS:

•Balance – men not in center of photo

•Black and white adds to old effect

•Ironic

•Texture of land, sky

Japanese Relocation

COMPOSITIONAL ELEMENTS:

•Black and white adds to old effect

•Blurry from sunlight

•Taken from an angle to show long line of people

•Light bottom left corner

Bibliography

• http://library.thinkquest.org/3776/Dorothea_Lange.html

• thinklikeaphotographer.com/ lange-handonface

• http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://myhero.com/ReadingRoom/books/Dorothea%2520Lange%2520-%2520Heart%2520and%2520Mind%2520of%2520a%2520Photographer.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.myhero.com/myhero/hero.asp%3Fhero%3Dd_lange&h=475&w=348&sz=39&hl=en&start=4&um=1&tbnid=lnBy8Y_OxDaueM:&tbnh=129&tbnw=95&prev=