The Depression-Era Photography of Dorothea Lange

Dorothea Lange captured some of the iconic images of the Great Depression.  As such she became one of the founding figures of the golden age of American photojournalism.  From sharecroppers to the Salvation Army, she recorded the times as they were then – and they were pretty harsh if the truth be told.

Lange took to roaming the streets taking pictures of homeless and unemployed people and this very quickly drew the admiration of local photographers. One thing led to another and she found herself employed by the rather harshly named Federal Resettlement Administration, later to become the Farm Security Administration (FSA). He job was to capture the lives and times of those affected by the Depression and to pass these images on – free of charge – to newspapers and magazines. The remarkable image of an ex-slave above was taken in 1938. Just over seventy years separates this shot and the Investiture of President Obama. One wonders if this woman – if informed of this future news by some errant time traveler – would choose to believe the shape of things to come.

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From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by taliesyn30.