Dorothea Lange's photographs define how the American Depression is remembered; this evocative biography defines her creative struggles and enduring legacy. We all know Dorothea Lange's iconic photographs but few know the arc of her extraordinary life. In this sweeping account, Linda Gordon charts Lange's journey from polio-ridden child to wife and mother, from San Francisco portrait photographer to chronicler of the Great Depression and Second World War. Gordon uses Lange's life to anchor a social history of twentieth-century America, re-creating the bohemian world of San Francisco, the Dust Bowl and the Japanese-American internment camps. She explores Lange's radicalization as she embraced the democratic power of the camera and she examines Lange's body of work. Lange reminds us that beauty can be found in unlikely places and that to respond to injustice, we must first learn how to see it.

About the Author

Linda Gordon is the Florence Kelley Professor of History at New York University and the author of Impounded (ISBN 978 0 393 33090 8), a "measured, intelligent introduction to a time that is all too possible to imagine recurring" (The Sunday Times).

Reviews

A riveting, massively researched biography of a remarkable woman and great photographer. It's also an invaluable, cultural history of America from San Francisco's Bohemia of the 1920s to the Great Depression through WWII. Gordon tells us some amazing stories of such legendary photographers as the 'Migrant Mother, ' and she also documents Lange's study of the Japanese-Americans and their oppressive internment camps. This is an absolutely fascinating study and a must read.--Patricia Bosworth, author of Diane Arbus: The Biography