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Dorothea Lange

Seeing People
By Andrea Nelson and Laura Wexler and Sarah Greenough and Philip Brookman
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Dorothea Lange offers an expansive exploration of portraiture, identity, and inequality through the lens of Lange's iconic photography. The book examines her lifelong dedication to creating images that are "important and useful," shedding light on how photography can reveal core human values and societal issues. Showcasing her sensitive portraits of marginalised communities—including Indigenous peoples, migrant workers, African Americans, and Japanese Americans in internment camps—this volume reveals how Lange's work shaped public understanding of social problems in the twentieth century. Drawing on new research, it situates Lange’s imagery within broader conversations about studio portraiture, identity, and enduring social inequalities.

Published in association with the National Gallery of Art, Washington, the book accompanies an exhibition running from November 5, 2023 to March 31, 2024, enriching readers with a comprehensive view of Lange’s influential career.
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Format: Hardback
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This book is well suited for readers interested in photography, social history, art, and cultural studies, as well as those drawn to documentary art that addresses themes of identity and social justice.

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An expansive look at portraiture, identity, and inequality as seen in Dorothea Lange’s iconic photographs

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

An expansive look at portraiture, identity, and inequality as seen in Dorothea Lange’s iconic photographs.

Dorothea Lange (1895–1965) aimed to make pictures that were, in her words, “important and useful.” Her decades-long investigation of how photography could articulate people’s core values and sense of self helped to expand our current understanding of portraiture and the meaning of documentary practice.

Lange’s sensitive portraits showing the common humanity of often marginalised people were pivotal to public understanding of vast social problems in the twentieth century. Compassion guided Lange’s early portraits of Indigenous people in Arizona and New Mexico from the 1920s and 1930s, as well as her depictions of striking workers, migrant farmers, rural African Americans, Japanese Americans in internment camps, and the people she met while travelling in Europe, Asia, and Latin America.

Drawing on new research, the authors look at Lange’s roots in studio portraiture and demonstrate how her influential and widely seen photographs addressed issues of identity as well as social, economic, and racial inequalities—topics that remain as relevant for our times as they were for hers.

Published in association with the National Gallery of Art, Washington.

Exhibition Schedule

National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
(November 5, 2023–March 31, 2024)

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780300272000

Publisher: Yale University Press

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 24 October 2023

Country: United States

Imprint: Yale University Press

Illustration: 60 tritone + 40 b-w illus.

Contributors:

  • With Nana Adwoa Nyamekye Ferdnance
  • With Elizabeth Fortune
  • With Kyra March
  • With Nana Adwoa Nyamekye Ferdnance
  • With Elizabeth Fortune
  • With Kyra March

Audience: Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Width: 235.0mm

Height: 267.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 216

Collections

Andrea Nelson Arts & Culture Laura Wexler Non-Fiction Philip Brookman Photography Books Sarah Greenough

About the Author

Philip Brookman is consulting curator, Sarah Greenough is senior curator and head of the department of photographs, and Andrea Nelson is associate curator, all at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. Laura Wexler is the Charles H. Farnam Professor of American Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Yale University.


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