by Linda Gordon
notebooks for, 144–45, 160
opposition to, 143, 150–51, 168, 171, 175–76
photography in, 143, 145, 156
phototextual reports of, 164, 165, 166–68, 220
publication of, 150, 151
research methods of, 143–45, 160
UXAs, 156–57
Taylor, Rose Schuster, 141, 152, 153, 171–72, 179, 180, 181, 182
Taylor, Ross, 313, 365, 394, 413–15, 416
birth of, 153
in blended family, 175–85, 413
death of, 414–15
mother’s relationship with, 181
musical talent of, 180–81, 413–14, 427
placing out of, 173–74, 176–80, 181
Temko, Allan, 427
tenancy, 250, 265–66, 298
tenant farmers, 158, 209, 250, 265–66, 270, 274, 283, 385
Texas, 151, 167, 196, 216, 250, 251, 253, 256, 268, 275
racial inequalities in, 164–65
Thailand, 392
Thompson, Florence, 235–43, 250
To a Cabin (Lange), 402
tobacco production, 270–74, 273
Tobey, Lillian West, 69–71, 77, 79–80, 186
Tolerton, Hill, 45, 47, 48
Treadwell, Sophie, 70, 349
Tugwell, Grace Falke, 207, 291, 417
Tugwell, Rexford, 158–59, 171, 193–95, 196, 204, 205
Twain, Mark, 38, 68
Unemployed Exchange Associations (UXAs), 156–57, 158, 159
United Farm Workers, 427
United Nations, 330, 346–47, 354, 364
universalism, 361–63, 410
specificity vs., 407–8
urban photography project, 402, 410, 411–12, 413, 428, 429
U.S. Camera, 203, 241–42, 359, 411, 424
Utah, 90, 136–37, 180, 325
DL’s Mormon towns project in, 308, 367–70
Vachon, John, 205, 207
vagrants, vagrancy, 256–57
Van Dyke, Willard, 118, 126, 132, 155, 157, 168–69, 172, 290
Venezuela, 394–95
Victory, 327, 330, 347
Vietnam, 384, 385, 387, 388–89, 390, 391–92, 391, 399
Vietnam War, 386, 404, 408, 428
visual democracy, xiii–xix, xxiii, 423–30
Votteler, Caroline, 18–19, 23
Wadleigh High School for Girls, 25–31
Wallace, Henry, 158–59, 194, 195, 298
war photography, 234, 316, 325, 326, 327–39, 350, 408
War Relocation Authority (WRA), 317, 318, 319, 320, 327
Warren, Earl, 354, 403
Washington D.C., 170–71, 195, 201, 205, 211, 287–300, 330, 339, 384–85, 404
Weatherwax, Seema, 119, 293
Weston, Edward, 44, 49, 52, 53, 73, 78–79, 83, 95, 112, 118, 119–20, 203, 285–86, 307, 357, 358, 408, 410
White, Clarence, 29, 35–37, 352
White, Minor, 350–51
White Angel Breadline (Lange), xiii, 102, 115–16, 131, 235, 237, 238, 363
Wight, Clifford, 129
Williams, Tennessee, 352
Winter, Ella, 83
Winters, Calif., 380, 381
Wolcott, Marion Post, 199, 207–8, 273, 294–95, 298
women:
ambitious, 110, 138, 143, 153, 169
Asian, 382, 391
bohemian, 52, 57, 107
children placed out by, 80, 83, 84, 108–10, 111, 176–77
as companions of charismatic men, 52, 107, 153
as defense workers, 328, 332, 333–34, 333, 426
discrimination against, 200, 207–8, 288, 291, 295, 297
divorced or unmarried, 137–38
DL’s friendships with, 48–57, 91, 126, 172
dust bowl refugees, 246–47, 247, 248, 249, 254
Egyptian, 396–97
farm, FSA and, 195
in federal relief programs, 128
feminist, xvi, 26, 30–31, 32, 48, 50, 52, 273, 294, 425–26
gender issues and, 45, 48–49, 50, 52, 54, 62, 99, 108, 153, 207–8, 220–21, 246–47, 272, 362–63, 396–97, 426
married, excluded from federal government positions, 170–71, 469n
migrant farmworkers, 217–18, 221–22, 223, 232, 425–26
mother-child relationship of, 80, 109–10, 362
sexual rights of, 31, 57
sharecroppers, 265, 269, 270, 272–73, 274, 277
Victorian, 62, 426
White’s respect for, 35–36
women photographers, 364, 407
DL’s friendships with 48–54, 127
in FSA photography project, 199, 207–8, 220–21, 294–95
gendered imagery skills of, 60–62
life problems faced by, 49
nude photography by, 49, 50, 53
portrait studios of, 45
Wood, Irving, 159, 171
Wool, Helen, 201, 208
Works Progress Administration (WPA), 123, 130, 164, 165, 187, 201, 256, 312, 317
World War I, 39, 84, 152, 166, 193
mustard gas attacks in, 142, 394
World War II, xiv, xx, 57, 124, 279, 281, 305–39, 351, 353, 354, 363, 385, 428
aerial photography in, 359
Iwo Jima flag-raising in, 325, 408, 428
propaganda in, 327–31, 333
West Coast defense industry in, 166, 331–36, 333, 335, 375–76
Wylde, Dennis, 370
You Have Seen Their Faces (Bourke-White and Caldwell), 280–81, 305
Yuma, Ariz., 166
Zakheim, Bernard, 126, 128–29
Photo Insert
PLATE 1. MOTHER BENDING OVER CHILD, PROBABLY EARLY 1920S
PLATE 2. WICKMAN GIRL, 1932
PLATE 3. HOPIS ON A TRAIL TO PLAZA, 1920S
PLATE 4. SAN FRANCISCO, 1933
PLATE 5. SAN FRANCISCO, 1937
PLATE 6. PINAL COUNTY, ARIZONA, 1940
PLATE 7. EXETER, CALIFORNIA, 1936
PLATE 8. IMPERIAL VALLEY, 1935
PLATE 9. CALIPATRIA, CALIFORNIA, 1939
PLATE 10. NEAR BLYTHEVILLE, ARKANSAS, 1937
PLATE 11. NEAR DOUGLAS, GEORGIA, 1938
PLATE 12. MEXICAN COUPLE, LOCATION UNKNOWN, 1935
PLATE 13. NEAR WESTLEY, CALIFORNIA, 1939
PLATE 14. COACHELLA VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, 1935
PLATE 15. WAKE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, 1939
PLATE 16. NEAR WAPATO, YAKIMA VALLEY, WASHINGTON, 1939
PLATE 17. CALIPATRIA, CALIFORNIA, 1939
PLATE 18. IMPERIAL VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, 1937
PLATE 19. AMERICAN RIVER CAMP, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, 1936 (HAPPY FAMILY)
PLATE 20. STANISLAUS COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, 1939
PLATE 21. RANDOLPH COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, 1939
PLATE 22. SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, 1936
PLATE 23. SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, 1936
PLATE 24. SHOOFLY, NORTH CAROLINA, 1939
PLATE 25. MISSISSIPPI DELTA, NEAR CLARKSDALE, MISSISSIPPI, 1936
PLATE 26. STRIKE MEETING, YUBA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, 1938
PLATE 27. MARYSVILLE, CALIFORNIA, MIGRANT CAMP, 1935
PLATE 28. NEAR EL PASO, TEXAS, 1938
PLATE 29. ALABAMA, CIRCA 1938
PLATE 30. DURHAM COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, 1939
PLATE 31. NEAR EXETER, CALIFORNIA, 1936
PLATE 32. DOS PALOS, CALIFORNIA, 1938
PLATE 33. CENTERVILLE, CALIFORNIA, 1942
PLATE 34. MANZANAR INTERNMENT CAMP, 1942
PLATE 35. OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA
PLATE 36. TRAILER CAMP, RICHMOND, CALIFORNIA, 1942
PLATE 37. COUNTY CLARE, IRELAND, 1954
PLATE 38. OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, 1957
PLATE 39. CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, 1956
PLATE 40. MONTICELLO, CALIFORNIA, 1953
PLATE 41. PHILIPPINES, 1958
PLATE 42. PAKISTAN, 1958
PLATE 43. KOREA, 1958
PLATE 44. EGYPT, 1963
PLATE 45. NEAR EUTAW, ALAB
AMA, 1936
PLATE 46. SOMEWHERE IN ASIA, 1958
PLATE 47. WINTERS, CALIFORNIA, 1954
PLATE 48. HINDS COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI, 1937
More praise for
DOROTHEA LANGE: A LIFE BEYOND LIMITS
“It takes uncommon insight and self-awareness to write this persuasively about a taciturn woman of labyrinthine complexity. Gordon leaves us to ponder bigger questions about the value and meaning of art over time—and about the exquisite ordinariness that resides deep in the heart of our least ordinary fellow humans.”
—Kirk Davis Swinehart, Chicago Tribune
“Linda Gordon’s biography Dorothea Lange: A Life Beyond Limits distinguishes itself by giving us something of a postmodern Lange, one who acknowledges—and even celebrates—the ultimately unknowable inner lives of her subjects.”
—Jordan Bear, Bookforum
“Gordon’s careful and thoughtful biography convinces a reader of Lange’s crucial role in the development of documentary photography and at the same time portrays her as a driven and difficult woman trying to balance work, love, and family.”
—Barbara Fisher, Boston Globe
“Linda Gordon’s absorbing biography of photographer Dorothea Lange (1895–1965) should be popping up on lists of 2009’s best books. The material is fascinating, and Gordon’s presentation sterling. . . . Most impressive is Gordon’s ability to explain the visual underpinnings of photography and the reasons why Lange’s best work still resonates.”
—Deirdre Donahue, USA Today
“An absorbing, well-researched and highly political biography of a transformative figure in modern photojournalism.”
—New York Times Book Review, “100 Notable Books of 2009”
“Gordon’s elegant biography is a testament to Lange’s gift for challenging her country to open its eyes.”
—David Oshinsky, New York Times Book Review
“Gordon shows that in Lange’s mind her work and her sacrifices were for the American people: ‘They were like military service.’ ”
—The New Yorker
“Gordon’s moving, intelligent portrait of an artist who set the standard for every socially concerned photographer who followed by depicting the oppressed not as pathetic victims, but as fellow human beings ensnared in circumstances that could and must be changed.”
—Wendy Smith, Los Angeles Times
“[A] riveting portrait of one of America’s most renowned photographers. In addition to providing insight into Dorothea Lange’s private life (1895–1965) and professional development, Gordon explores the wider context in which she lived and worked. The author’s careful scholarship reveals the connection between Lange’s work and the sociopolitical environment surrounding her, while still portraying her as a normal, flawed human being. . . . Gordon deftly leads readers through the labyrinth of Lange’s life . . . providing a personal, intimate tour of the photographer’s life and work. Though largely sympathetic, Gordon doesn’t shy away from depicting Lange’s sometimes questionable decisions regarding her personal life. A rigorously constructed, entertaining biography.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Gordon’s biography is meticulously researched and pays particular and illuminating attention to her formative years.”
—Sean O’Hagan, The Observer
“Gordon, an accomplished social historian, captures Lange’s complexities in context, as few other biographers are likely to do.”
—Jackson Lears, American Prospect
“Gordon’s Dorothea Lange: A Life Beyond Limits is a masterly biography that illustrates the personal and professional struggles and achievements of a woman who was ahead of her time and who remains overshadowed by her work.”
—Natasha Clark, Elle
“Gordon takes vivid detours through everything from sharecropping to corporate agriculture to New Deal bureaucracies as she follows Lange’s trips through the Central Valley and the deep South.”
—David D’Arcy, San Francisco Chronicle
“Lange deserves reconsideration—documentary portraiture is not in vogue these days—and this wide-ranging, richly detailed biography will help.”
—John McMurtrie, San Francisco Chronicle,
“100 Best Fiction, Nonfiction Books of 2009”
Copyright
Frontispiece caption: Dorothea Lange, probably 1956, by Arthur Dubinsky
© Copyright 2009 by Linda Gordon
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
First published as a Norton paperback 2010
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gordon, Linda.
Dorothea Lange : a life beyond limits / Linda Gordon. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-393-05730-0 (hardcover)
1. Lange, Dorothea. 2. Photographers—United States—Biography. 3. Documentary photography—United States—History—20th century. 4. United States—Social life and customs—20th century—Pictorial works. I. Title.
TR140.L3.G67 2009
770.92—dc22
[B]
2009019639
ISBN 978-0-393-33905-5 pbk.
W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10110
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