Dorothea Lange
Born in 1895 Died in 1965
She was known for her documentary/street photography style.
Her most known work is her Great Depression work. Working with FSA (farm security administrations). A side note is that those photos are in the public domain.
During her HS years she never owned a camera but wanted to be a photographer.
Her photography education started at Columbia University in NYC, Her professor was Clarence H White.
She apprenticed in many studios, one being Arnold Genthe.
She wanted to travel the world but that ended due to being robbed, so she became a photograph finisher at a camera store. Here is where she got to meet other photographers.
She met someone while working as a photograph finisher, who helped her with a successful portrait studio which lasted about 15 years. In her studio most of the portraits were of social elite in San Francisco.
During the Great Depression she left the studio to document the world around her. documenting the homeless and unemployed.
After her divorce she married an economist who went with her to document sharecroppers and other workers.
Around 1941 she got a Guggenheim Fellowship for her photography. After Perl Harbor she gave up her grant to document Japanese Americans. She worked with the WRA (War Relocation Authority). She photographed the camps, her perspective was the uncertainty. Most of the photos during this were taken away by the army but now can be seen.
In 45 Ansel invited her to teach art photography at CSFA/SFAI.
In 54 she helped create the magazine Aperture.
