Dorothea Lange: A Visual Life

by Elizabeth Partridge (Editor)

Essays examine the life and work of the photographer who captured American history during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s

Genres: Photography, Art, History

168 pages, Hardcover

First published October 17, 1994

Reviews

[Christian Morreale]

Dorothea Lange is one of the most important photographers in American history. She took images of real Americans, often from the lowest class. Her images were authentic, emotional and projected many points about the American identity, especially from a lower class perspective. This book includes many of these iconic images, which is what I would harp on with the class. I would have the class look at images of dust bowl farmers and the Great Depression and ask the class the questions, "What do you know about these people based on the picture?" "What emotions can you feel projected by these people?" and "How did the environment these people lived shape who they were, as people and who they identify as?"
These images would be a great way to start a unit that involves identity of a class, rather than a race.

[Paula · Rating 2 out of 5]

Few photos, and the essays were not as good as I'd hoped. I love Lange's body of work overall; next time I'll choose one with more photos.