Dorothea Lange

Supported by government programs and new picture magazines like LIFE, Dorothea Lange and other photographers of the 1930s and '40s created an indelible record of everyday life in difficult times. The Great Depression caused many photographers to consider the camera as an instrument of social change. Foremost among this group was Berkeley photographer Dorothea Lange, whose intimate pictures of people in distress were driven by a deep personal empathy. She continued her intensely personal work after the Depression, creating series on the forced relocation of Japanese Americans during World War II, Irish country life, and postwar suburban California, among many other projects. The Oakland Museum of California houses Lange’s personal archive, a gift from the artist that includes 25,000 negatives, 6,000 vintage prints, field notes, and personal memorabilia. Curators and researchers from around the world visit the Museum to access the Lange collection.

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Plains\|Tractored Out - Childress Co., Texas Dorothea Lange Jun-38	Untitled (Portrait of Joan Bowly, Dorothea Lange's Mother) Dorothea Lange 1927
Spring in Oakland Dorothea Lange 1956	Dorothea Lange Studio Announcement Dorothea Lange 1934
Untitled (Ansel Adams with his View Camera in the Field, Utah) Dorothea Lange c.1952\|1997 Modern print (1997) from original negative in the collection of the Center for Creative Photography	Untitled (Ansel Adams with his View Camera in the Field, Utah) Dorothea Lange c.1952\|1997 Modern print (1997) from the original negative in the collection of the Center for Creative Photography
Studio Announcement Dorothea Lange 1934 Studio flyer with text: "new season / 1934 / dorothea lange / photographs / of people / new place / 2515 / gough street / san francisco / GRaystone 2807"	Consumers\|1.) Oakland, 10th St. Market "The Resurrection of Hope" 2.) "Work for all-now-regardless of sex or race" - (couple in front of 10th St. Market) Dorothea Lange Spring 1942 Handwritten on negative envelope: "Consumers Spring 1942 Oakland, 10th St Market (Continued) (How many times did I try this and not get anywhere?)" Note in Catalog Sheet Volume 5 indicates...
Ex-Slave with a long memory Dorothea Lange 1938	N. Carolina farms - general store, tobacco barn.\|Tobacco Barn/Farms/Crossroads General Store Dorothea Lange ca. 1938 The heading in the catalog for Dorothea Lange Retrospective New York Museum of Modern Art reads: "Crossroads Store, Alabama 1937," which is a misidentification. The photo was actually...
Memphis Unemployed Waiting for Relief Dorothea Lange ca. 1938 Handwritten on negative envelope "Memphis unemployed waiting for relief see also San Francisco, Oakland, same time.. Also - politics"	Texas People\|Texas People - Brazos Bottom Dorothea Lange 1938
Funeral Cortege - End of an Era in a Small Valley Town Dorothea Lange c.1938	Doorstep of Church\|Grayson, San Joaquin Valley, California Dorothea Lange April 20, 1939\|1938
Displaced Tenant Farmers, Goodlet, Hardeman Co., Texas\|Displaced Tenant Farmers Dorothea Lange 1938\|June 1937 Lange numbers 38112 - 38130 are of Texas. Lange Problem #323. Evidently this a Lange copy negative.	A Back Dorothea Lange 1938
San Francisco Social Security Office\|Line Up at Social Security in Early Days of the Program Dorothea Lange 1937	Drought Refugees \| Back Dorothea Lange c.1935
Revival, Around Dos Palos\|Revival Meeting - Around Dos Palos Dorothea Lange 1938	Drought Refugees - "Ruby" from Arkansas Dorothea Lange c.1935
Drought Refugees Dorothea Lange c.1935	Kern County People\|Kern Co. People - Potato Field Workers Dorothea Lange c.1935 35172-8: Kern Co. People
Dairy Co-op Officials Dorothea Lange c.1935	Coachella Valley Mexicans\|Mexicans - Coachella Valley Dorothea Lange 1935

Plains\|Tractored Out - Childress Co., Texas Dorothea Lange Jun-38	Untitled (Portrait of Joan Bowly, Dorothea Lange's Mother) Dorothea Lange 1927
Spring in Oakland Dorothea Lange 1956	Dorothea Lange Studio Announcement Dorothea Lange 1934
Untitled (Ansel Adams with his View Camera in the Field, Utah) Dorothea Lange c.1952\|1997 Modern print (1997) from original negative in the collection of the Center for Creative Photography	Untitled (Ansel Adams with his View Camera in the Field, Utah) Dorothea Lange c.1952\|1997 Modern print (1997) from the original negative in the collection of the Center for Creative Photography
Studio Announcement Dorothea Lange 1934 Studio flyer with text: "new season / 1934 / dorothea lange / photographs / of people / new place / 2515 / gough street / san francisco / GRaystone 2807"	Consumers\|1.) Oakland, 10th St. Market "The Resurrection of Hope" 2.) "Work for all-now-regardless of sex or race" - (couple in front of 10th St. Market) Dorothea Lange Spring 1942 Handwritten on negative envelope: "Consumers Spring 1942 Oakland, 10th St Market (Continued) (How many times did I try this and not get anywhere?)" Note in Catalog Sheet Volume 5 indicates...
Ex-Slave with a long memory Dorothea Lange 1938	N. Carolina farms - general store, tobacco barn.\|Tobacco Barn/Farms/Crossroads General Store Dorothea Lange ca. 1938 The heading in the catalog for Dorothea Lange Retrospective New York Museum of Modern Art reads: "Crossroads Store, Alabama 1937," which is a misidentification. The photo was actually...
Memphis Unemployed Waiting for Relief Dorothea Lange ca. 1938 Handwritten on negative envelope "Memphis unemployed waiting for relief see also San Francisco, Oakland, same time.. Also - politics"	Texas People\|Texas People - Brazos Bottom Dorothea Lange 1938
Funeral Cortege - End of an Era in a Small Valley Town Dorothea Lange c.1938	Doorstep of Church\|Grayson, San Joaquin Valley, California Dorothea Lange April 20, 1939\|1938
Displaced Tenant Farmers, Goodlet, Hardeman Co., Texas\|Displaced Tenant Farmers Dorothea Lange 1938\|June 1937 Lange numbers 38112 - 38130 are of Texas. Lange Problem #323. Evidently this a Lange copy negative.	A Back Dorothea Lange 1938
San Francisco Social Security Office\|Line Up at Social Security in Early Days of the Program Dorothea Lange 1937	Drought Refugees \| Back Dorothea Lange c.1935
Revival, Around Dos Palos\|Revival Meeting - Around Dos Palos Dorothea Lange 1938	Drought Refugees - "Ruby" from Arkansas Dorothea Lange c.1935
Drought Refugees Dorothea Lange c.1935	Kern County People\|Kern Co. People - Potato Field Workers Dorothea Lange c.1935 35172-8: Kern Co. People
Dairy Co-op Officials Dorothea Lange c.1935	Coachella Valley Mexicans\|Mexicans - Coachella Valley Dorothea Lange 1935