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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Photo Album|January 1928
1928
Imperial Valley | Imperial Valley - Migrant Labor Camp
Apr-35
Macdonald, Miscellaneous Street Items|Woman Standing in front of Richmond Cafe
ca. 1942

Filed in contemporary Lange work print folder, with the following inscription: #27 cont. The War Years Shipyards - Housing (1942-1945) see also oversized prints Handwritten on negative envelope...

Street Items in Berkeley|Gas Station w/Sign "Sorry Today's Gasoline Allotment Sold" - Berkeley CA
January, 1944

Filed in contemporary Lange work print folder, with the following inscription: #27 cont. The War Years, Shipyards, Housing Handwritten on negative envelope: "Street items in Berkeley -...

End of Shift 3:30
Sep-43

Filed in contemporary Lange work print folder, with the following inscription: #28 Richmond Shipyards - Wartime (1943) Written on negative envelope: "Sept `43 End of Shift 3:30 Notice, how...

Aug-44
Aug-44
Aug-44
Aug-44
1954

Oakes Observatory, cabinet I, shelf #3

1944
ca. 1963

This is one of a strip of two negatives cataloged as 67.137.63114.1 and .2

ca. 1963

This is one of a strip of two 35mm negatives cataloged as 67.137.63155.26 and .27

ca. 1964

This is one of a strip of three 35mm negatives cataloged as 67.137.59240.1 through .3

Dan Dixon says that, although there really had been bad trouble over the weekend, the subject is...

1959

This is one of a strip of six 35mm negatives cataloged as 67.137.59170.13 through .18

ca. 1958

This is one of a strip of five 35mm negatives cataloged as 67.137.58275.17 through .21

Two Women
1958

This is one of a strip of three negatives cataloged as 67.137.58284.1 through .3

ca. 1958

This is one of a strip of three negatives cataloged as 67.137.58260.3 through .5

1958

This negative was found in the Lange Problem box. This is one of a strip of two negatives cataloged as 67.137.58122.6 and .7

1957

This negative was missing and found under Lange Problem #83.

Slippers
1958

This is one of a strip of five 35mm negatives cataloged as 67.137.58166.3 through .7

May-57
n.d.
n.d.

Handwritten on negative envelope: "GOOD"

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