DOROTHEA LANGE PB [Paperback]

Partridge E (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 17, 1994

This chronicle of the life and work of Dorothea Lange (1895-1965) richly portrays one of America's most celebrated photographers. The woman behind the camera is revealed in excerpts from her letters, journal entries, in the words of seven essayists who together develop a full vision of Lange as artist, woman, mother, and activist, and in more than 80 photos.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

A general introduction to the life and work of photojournalist Lange that draws on family remembrances, scholarly evaluations, and a handsome picture portfolio. Six essays, one interview, and a healthy black-and-white picture section make up this composite introduction to Lange (18951965), best known for her US Farm Security Administration images of Depression-era migrant workers. Editor Partridge grew up in Lange's loosely knit family fold (her father worked as an assistant), and her warm introduction details the tension between Lange's motherly impulses and her irascible nature. In a 1976 interview, Ansel Adams comments on shared technical hardships, Lange's marriage to activist Paul Taylor, and her ``absolute sexless beauty.'' Roger Daniels (History/Univ. of Chicago) looks at Lange's work documenting Japanese Americans interned by the War Relocation Authority during WW II. And an incisive essay by Sally Stein (Art History/Univ. of California, Irvine) discusses Lange's fascination with bodily depictions (she had been crippled by childhood polio and was dogged by lifelong physical infirmities). Most telling, though, are the photographs themselves. One from 1937, taken at a sharecropper's cabin in Coahoma County, Miss., shows only a black woman's bare feet in the foreground, poised elegantly one atop the other on the dusty and worn boards of a front porch. Another, from 1938, records campaign posters taped to a Waco, Tex., gas station window. The sternly optimistic faces of the candidates surround painted sign lettering that reads: ``Washing/Greasing/Storage.'' Both images are blunt and literal, relying on secondary association for political or allegorical impact. Later photographs draw from Lange's extensive world travels. In all, this is a limited and general introduction to Lange's life and work. It piques curiosity but leaves a lot of rich material unexamined. Still, this compendium is respectfully assembled and nicely documented. (Partridge has produced a companion film to accompany the book.) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Smithsonian (October 17, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560984554
• ISBN-13: 978-1560984559
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 9.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,800,187 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dorothea Lange (1895-1965) was an influential American documentary photographer and photojournalist, best known for her Depression-era work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA). Lange's photographs humanized the tragic consequences of the Great Depression and profoundly influenced the development of documentary photography.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Succinct. Beautiful., May 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Dorothea Lange--A Visual Life (Hardcover)

This book is put together in a way that allows readers to meet Dorothea Lange on different levels. On a personal level through family (or "just like" family) members, friends, and through Ms. Lange's own words (wonderfully used as text to complement her photographs). On a professional level, an interview with one of Ms. Lange's fellow photographers is included, along with chapter-long essays by those who have studied her work and life. I feel the strengths of this book are the organization, essays by those who knew Ms. Lange personally, and Ms. Lange's words.

The photographs are direct, honest and beautiful. Ms. Lange, her life, and words at times tough and unyielding, yet are luminous, and always "true".

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and insightful, May 15, 2005

By 

Bukkene Bruse (Iowa) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: DOROTHEA LANGE PB (Paperback)

I very much enjoyed the choice of photographs that were included in this book: the trinity of "Migrant Mother", "Pledge of Allegiance", and "White Angel Breadline", along with other photographs that showed the range across time, space and subjects that formed the body of Lange's work. My only gripe with the photographs was the narrow crop used for "Pledge of Allegiance"; I much prefer the wider aspect ratio the Getty chose for their print.

The essays were mostly quite insightful, particularly the ones by people who knew her, the editor Partridge, her son Daniel Dixon, and Ansel Adams. I didn't get as much out of the essay by Sally Stein.

Overall this is a great book and the best I've seen to date on Lange's life and work.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Visually beautiful, July 4, 2001

By 

Bridget Hockney (Jacksonville, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: DOROTHEA LANGE PB (Paperback)

Fascinating book about the famous photographer. A woman before her time in many ways. This is an honest account of what many who worked with her, lived with her and loved her thought OF her. The pictorial story of American life will capture your attention.