Dorothea Lange Appreciation

[cliveh]

This image always reminds me of a Van Gogh painting.

 

[dasBlute]

also Jean Francois Millet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gleaners
Dali was fascinated with this imagery as well...

 

[tedr1]

that is hard work!

 

[Drew B.]

It's funny that this thread appeared today...just an hour ago I picked up a book from the library on her life!

 

[HiHoSilver]

I've poured through a book on her work a dozen times. She seemed rather gifted at working w/ people, some of which were likely not easy to work with.

 

[DREW WILEY]

She is still remembered in the community. Quite a character, even a photographic "stalker" who even family members just couldn't shake. I see one
of these persons several times a week, who is also related by marriage to yet another famous vintage photographer, recently deceased. Her work is considered the crown jewels of the Oakland Museum nearby. I particularly admire it because it's not the kind of photography I could ever do. I could never take someone's picture without their permission. She is best known for documenting the Oakies from the Dust Bowl; but there are a lot of equally inspired things she did locally. PBS has a superb recent documentary about her and her stormy marriage to the painter Maynard Dixon. Their house is still here in the hills with the same magnificent oak tree surrounded by a high deck.

 

[CMoore]

I THINK she often spoke to the people she photographed.?
In those days, photography was not viewed as an intrusion of your privacy, and you were not worried about pictures of your 12 year old daughter getting on The Internet, etc etc.
Anyway.....she was a female, which is often a plus, she was with a government agency that was offering The Hope of some type of Relief/Help.
She was not a "glamorous" person. From the pics i have seen of her, she was often dressed "mannishly" and/or in very moderate clothing. I imagine she gave a feeling of honesty to most that met her.?
The Feds REALLY censored her work at The Japanese Concentration Camps.
I know she had Doubts/Reservations about that phase of her career.
She was charged with a rather thankless and physically demanding job. There were others as well, and i do not mean to dismiss them at all.
I would love to have talked with her.....almost the polar opposite of an Annie Liebovitz...from a perspective of the visual topic of their photographs.

 

[rwjr]

one of my favorite photographs by her is the iconic "migrant mother ", i've always wanted to know more about that photograph & the woman in it , i always wondered whatever happened to her , after some online sleuthing i came across several articles explaining it . just google " the real story behind the photograph migrant mother ". sorry for no links , i cant seem to get them to work .

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Owens_Thompson

 

[Pioneer]

Definitely one of my favorite photographers. Her drive to photograph things that others were not interested in is what makes her really great in my opinion. Her photo "White Angel Breadline" is another great one and it happened quite a bit before she met her second husband.

Her stormy marriage to Maynard Dixon, quite a famous western art painter in his own right, is part of what pushed her out into the field.

I find it interesting that in later years she said that Migrant Mother was really no longer hers. It had become so famous that it had taken on a life of its own even during her lifetime. It had already become the iconic photographic that represented the dust bowl era and depression to the nation.

If passion for your subject is a prerequisite for greatness then she had it in spades.

 

[rwjr]

Definitely one of my favorite photographers. Her drive to photograph things that others were not interested in is what makes her really great in my opinion. Her photo "White Angel Breadline" is another great one and it happened quite a bit before she met her second husband.

Her stormy marriage to Maynard Dixon, quite a famous western art painter in his own right, is part of what pushed her out into the field.

I find it interesting that in later years she said that Migrant Mother was really no longer hers. It had become so famous that it had taken on a life of its own even during her lifetime. It had already become the iconic photographic that represented the dust bowl era and depression to the nation.

If passion for your subject is a prerequisite for greatness then she had it in spades.

yeah , white angel breadline ( her first documentary image ) is another great photograph by her . in that photograph what lange had was a disturbing but beautiful image that would come to represent the face of the great depression , the weariness indicated by the man's posture , the emptiness of the cup he was holding , his individuality obscured by the brim of his hat along with his isolation from the others on the breadline all adding up to a poignant yet respectful portrait of hopelessness & despair

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

I live near the the former town Monticello in Northern California. She documented the flooding of the town for Monticello dam. But this is a great doco on her.
http://grabahunkoflightning.com/

 

[CMoore]

That is the Lake Berryesa Dam.?
I lived near Lexington Reservoir. When it got dry, Circa 1975, you could still see part of the main road that went through the former town of Lexington.
Can you imagine, a community that spawned...doctors, firemen, teachers, farmers, auto mechanics.....and one day it disappears under 50 feet of water.
I got a BIG Shock when i went back to the town i grew up in. I had not really been their for 30 years. Things DO Change.
But some people can really "Never Go Home Again".....their home has been erased from the map. It must, kind of, take a piece of you with it.

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

That is the Lake Berryesa Dam.?
I lived near Lexington Reservoir. When it got dry, Circa 1975, you could still see part of the main road that went through the former town of Lexington.
Can you imagine, a community that spawned...doctors, firemen, teachers, farmers, auto mechanics.....and one day it disappears under 50 feet of water.
I got a BIG Shock when i went back to the town i grew up in. I had not really been their for 30 years. Things DO Change.
But some people can really "Never Go Home Again".....their home has been erased from the map. It must, kind of, take a piece of you with it.

Yes. It's all now under water. With the California drought a few years back, there was so little water, I thought they might offer tours of an abandoned town. Yeah things change whether we like it or not. But acceptance is the only real solution.

 

[Alan Johnson]

https://www.theguardian.com/artandd...thea-lange-politics-of-seeing-barbican-review
In London, at the Barbican Art Gallery . is an exhibition of her work from 22 Jun - 2 Sept 2018.