Dorothea Lange: Photographer of the People Photographer of the People

A scholarly work that aims to be both broad enough in scope to satisfy upper-division undergraduates studying folk belief and narrative and detailed enough to meet the needs of graduate students in the field. Each beautifully illustrated book in the Show Me America series chronicles the artist's early life and traces his or her expeditions with excerpts from sketchbooks, diary entries, letters, newspaper articles, and more. Readers learn what inspired the artist's journey, how he or she worked on the road, how the art or photos were displayed to the public, whether the artist was recognized during his or her lifetime, and how the art influenced or changed the public's understanding of America. Each book includes approximately 50 full-color illustrations, plus a detailed two-page map spread. Timelines blend biographical information, advances/influences in art or photography, and pertinent regional and national events. Sidebars explore techniques, and processes of the artist/photographer; provide brief biographies of the artists, writers, and politicians of the period; and include information on the legacy of the artist/photographer. Each book includes a glossary, Further Research section with Internet resources, a bibliography, and an index. - Publisher

Through the lens of Dorothea Lange's camera, Americans shared the hardships of the poor on the streets of New York and of those who suffered during the Great Depression, and they learned about the desperate lives of migrant workers forced from their land in what became known as the Dust Bowl. Lange documented Japanese American men, women, and children forced to live in Western internment camps during World War II, and she traveled to the South to expose the conditions of African American farm workers.

Find out what drove Dorothea Lange to dedicate her life to trying to capture our human experience. She wrote, "One should really use the camera as though tomorrow you'd be stricken blind. To live a visual life is an enormous undertaking practically unattainable. I've only touched it, just touched it." Through her heartbreaking photographs, she revealed pain and sadness, but she also celebrated the hope and courage that Americans have displayed throughout history.

A photographer's first observations In love with San Francisco The great depression Photographer of the people The troubled war years-and after Retrospective Glosssary Time line.