Apollo Magazine

Dorothea Lange: Seeing People

Through her intimate portraits of migrant labourers, cotton pickers and farmers, Dorothea Lange captured the realities of Depression-era America

Migrant agricultural worker's family, Nipomo, California, February 1936 (detail; 1936), Dorothea Lange. National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

Through sensitive portraits of rural America’s migrant labourers, cotton pickers and farmers, Dorothea Lange captured images of life on the fringes of society. Featuring some 100 works, this exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. reveals how the giant of 20th-century photography brought public attention to the realities of Depression-era America (5 November–31 March 2024). Highlights range from city scenes, such as Street Demonstration, San Francisco (1934), through to studies of individuals including Nettie Featherson, wife of a migratory laborer with three children, near Childress, Texas (1938). Find out more on the NGA’s website.

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Children of the Weill Public School shown in a flag pledge ceremony, San Francisco (1942), Dorothea Lange. National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

Black woman working in field near Eutaw, Alabama (1936), Dorothea Lange. National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

Migrant agricultural worker’s family, Nipomo, California, February 1936 (1936), Dorothea Lange. National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

 

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