Early Modern: Dorothea Lange

Toward Los Angeles, California, 1937

Dorothea Lange was an amazing photographer who captured both beautifully artistic and journalistically informative photographs. Her photograph Toward Los Angeles, California, 1937 is a prime example. In the picture two migrant workers are depicted hiking to California along a dusty, empty road, alongside which can be seen a billboard with the phrase “Next time try the train. Relax”, above an illustration of a man in a reclining chair (Yahoo! Inc.). She captures the hardships of the Great Depression so artistically and yet realistically in this photograph. The contrast between the two focuses of the photograph—the migrant workers walking all the way to California and the billboard advertising comfort—play off of each other so well. Her photograph is almost satirical in this way; the billboard is almost a sick joke as the men face an empty country still yet to cross on foot in the hope of actually finding some comfort at the end of their journey.

Lange’s photograph Toward Los Angeles, California, 1937 was actually photographed under the employment of the Farm Security Administration in March of 1937 (Yahoo! Inc.). Her intentions were specifically to highlight the misfortunes of migrants and Americans during the Great Depression, in the hope of encouraging others to try and improve the awful conditions of the 1930s (Library of Congress). I think Toward Los Angeles, California, 1937 is wonderfully done and inspiring.

I personally appreciate the somewhat dark humor associated with this photograph because it so effectively gets across the idea of desperation. These people have no option other than to walk to California because things are really that bad. I’m also drawn to this photograph in particular because the scenery reminds me of the stories my grandparents told me about their experiences during the Great Depression and the photographs they took themselves at the time as well. Having heard their stories makes Lange’s picture even more amazing to me.

References:

Library of Congress. (2009). Dorothea Lange. http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/aa/lange

Yahoo! Inc. (2009). Dorothea Lange: Toward Los Angeles, California, 1937. http://www.flickr.com/photos/trialsanderrors/2891351477/

Picture:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3168/2891351477_527fbb52e3.jpg