Dorothea Lange was an American photojournalist and documentary photographer who is best known for her work during the Depression for the Farm Security Administration. Lange’s photos humanized the effects of the Great Depression, and they influenced documentary photography.
Dorothea Lange began her visual journey in New York’s Lower East Side, even before she owned a camera. She was passionate about mingling on the streets with ordinary people. After moving to the West she became a great portrait photographer of San Francisco’s upper class. When the Great Depression struck, Lange responded to the changes in the world by returning to the streets of the city and photographing those who were destitute. She was bored with studio photography and enjoyed the excitement and bustle of street photography. She would not go back to photographing rich people, but she would solidify her reputation by photographing impoverished Americans in the 1930s. Two of her photographs, white angel breadline and migrant mothers became iconic images of the Great Depression.
This video was created using a variety of primary and secondary resources, including interviews with Lange and films about her life. It also includes several biographies. The content is all factual. The narration is a combination of direct quotes from Lange, and a narrative that was based on these sources.