Dorothea Lang is a photographer who captured the suffering of the Great Depression. Her work is showcased in the Oakland Museum of California. Her work was significant because it influenced social change. Lang’s work consisted mainly of photographs of people in distress. Each work was accompanied with captions that came straight from the subjects of the picture. The Man sleeping on Bench- Howard Street, san Francisco stood out to me the most. The photo was taken in 1934, and the man was homeless due to depression. I personally believe that Dorothea was trying to convey the image of how a lot of men were living during the great depression. With this image, the image of homelessness is shared. Not everyone at the time was homeless, and many would
not understand without seeing it. While these pieces are extremely compelling, there are different factors that made them so interesting. The photographer’s use of light and shadow conveyed her thoughts and ideas to the viewers. The shadows express the sadness of the times. I personally believe that if the photos were in color we would not have gotten the full effect of the social issues of the time. The light and shadows depict the feeling perfectly. While the pictures depicted the times, I think that the photos were partially posed. I do believe that the people were in those moments, but they may have been told what to do or where to look. For example, the Man sleeping on Bench- Howard Street, san Francisco seemed to be too put together. His position, in my opinion, seems posed. While I do think they are posed, I still think that each man was living their truth through the photo that was taken of them. Dorothea Lang was not the only photographer who took pictures during the great depression, but she was one of the most influential. It was important for the world to see the harsh realities that existed at the time. Once the images were spread through the nation everyone became aware, and it helped to influence social change. Just as photos were influential then, they can be extremely helpful now. Social change comes from being aware of what others are going through. I commend Lang and the other photographers at the time for helping those in need through their talents.
A man born in an obscure part of Louisiana, were to go against the normal political implications the city upheld to. Winn Parish gave way to a political monster, wise beyond his limited power. Huey Long was a great and fearless leader who got things done by putting pressure on other government officials to actually do what they were supposed to do, and that’s govern. August 10, 1893 a diamond in the rut was born to forever change political progression. Growing up knowing about how the United States had little to no care about the poor and companies abuses of people simultaneously depriving people more and more of economic growth. The people of Louisiana needed Huey Long to fight for them against politicians who forgot the people who got them elected. Huey will always be one of the most significant political figures of Louisiana. The spot he made during his ruling period in the state is truly a benchmark, as he made better roads and better schools along with centralizing the state government improving the way things were done for the better. He was great for Louisiana, being one politician that was for the people becoming the greatest political leader Louisiana ever had.
The Great Depression tested America’s political organizations like no other event in United States’ history except the Civil War. The most famous explanations of the period are friendly to Roosevelt and the New Deal and very critical of the Republican presidents of the 1920’s, bankers, and businessmen, whom they blame for the collapse. However, Amity Shlaes in her book, The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression, contests the received wisdom that the Great Depression occurred because capitalism failed, and that it ended because of Roosevelt’s New Deal. Shlaes, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a syndicated financial columnist, argues that government action between 1929 and 1940 unnecessarily deepened and extended the Great Depression.
Eleanor Roosevelt was a First Lady during the time of the Great Depression. She made huge differences in the lives of women, youth and minorities.
Art could be displayed in many different forms; through photography, zines, poetry, or even a scrapbook. There are many inspirational women artists throughout history, including famous women artists such Artemisia Gentileschi and Georgia O’Keeffe. When searching for famous female artists that stood out to me, I found Frida Kahlo, and Barbara Kruger. Two very contrasting type of artists, though both extremely artistic. Both of these artists are known to be feminists, and displayed their issues through painting and photography. Frida Kahlo and Barbara Kruger’s social and historical significance will be discussed.
I glance amusedly at the photo placed before me. The bright and smiling faces of my family stare back me, their expressions depicting complete happiness. My mind drifted back to the events of the day that the photo was taken. It was Memorial Day and so, in the spirit of tradition my large extended family had gathered at the grave of my great grandparents. The day was hot and I had begged my mother to let me join my friends at the pool. However, my mother had refused. Inconsolable, I spent most of the day moping about sulkily. The time came for a group picture and so my grandmother arranged us all just so and then turned to me saying, "You'd better smile Emma or you'll look back at this and never forgive yourself." Eager to please and knowing she would never let it go if I didn't, I plastered on a dazzling smile. One might say a picture is worth a thousand words. However, who is to say they are the accurate or right words? During the 1930s, photographers were hired by the FSA to photograph the events of the Great Depression. These photographers used their images, posed or accurate, to sway public opinion concerning the era. Their work displayed an attempt to fulfill the need to document what was taking place and the desire to influence what needed to be done.
Through out the Great Depression there were many photographers, but one of the best was Dorothea Lange. Lange was born on the 25th of May in 1895 in Hoboken, New Jersey as the first child of Joan and Henry Nutzhorn. She decided to become a photographer at the age of 18. She studied photography at Columbia University in New York. At the age of 20 she began to travel the world. Later in life she settled down in San Francisco, California, where she met her first husband, artist Maynard Dixon. She had had to children Daniel (1925) and John (1928). She died on the 11th of October in 1916. Even Though some people believe Dorothea Lange was not a great photographer, Dorothea was because she caused great inspiration of those going through the hard times of the Great Depression, she also showed us that some of are problems may not as bad as other peoples.
An exhibition titled Women of the American Exodus featuring Dorothea Lange’s works will be taking place at an art studio in Nipomo, California where Lange’s famous picture Migrant Mother was taken. Lange is a documentary photographer and used the photographs that she shot to chronicle significant and historical events whose subjects were most often those affected by the Great Depression and poverty (Cathy Ostrom Peters). The pictures are arranged into order of increasing age of the subject in a dimly lit, four-walled room giving us a sense of darkness, and possibly the emotions that the subjects were feeling. Some beautiful works of Lange’s that can be seen are White Angel Bread Line, Daughter of Migrant Tennessee Coal Miner Living in American River Camp near Sacramento, California, and Woman of the High Plains, Texas Panhandle.
The mass media carries with it unparalleled opportunities to impart information, but also opportunities to deceive the public, by misrepresenting an event. While usually thought of as falsifying or stretching facts and figures, manipulation can just as easily be done in the use of photography and images. These manipulations may be even more serious – and subtle – than written manipulations, since they may not be discovered for years, if ever, and can have an indelible and lasting impact on the viewer, as it is often said, “a picture is worth a thousand words”. One of the most significant images of Twentieth Century America was the photograph of a migrant mother holding her child. The photograph was taken during the Great Depression by photographer Dorothea Lange, and has remained an enduring symbol of the hardship and struggle faced by many families during the Depression Era. This image was also an example of the manipulation of photography, however, for it used two major forms of manipulation that remain a problem in journalistic photography.
Photography and portraiture is a powerful medium for art. Through photography and portraiture we are able to capture the essence and being of individuals and moments. Many artists that primarily work within these genres do so for that very reason. Famous photographer Robert Mapplethorpe was no different, using his photographs to capture portraits of the various characters that made up the fabric of his social existence as a gay white male living in New York City. Robert Mapplethorpe, as a member of a fringe lifestyle and culture within America, wanted to utilize his work to bring to the public conscious, recognition and appreciation of these fringe groups and cultures, even if it required shocking depictions and imagery.
Diary Of Man During Great Depression Dear Diary I am 29 years old and I come from a lower middle class family. My ancestors came from England, but I was born in Australia. I haven't got married because I am having a hard time supporting myself let alone have a family of a few. I lost my job when the Great Depression began and I got one. about three years later.
Dorothea Lange, born Dorothea Margaretta Nutzhorn, was a famous documentary photographer during the great depression. Lange was born on May 26th 1895 in Hoboken, New Jersey, and at age seven, contracted polio. Due to suffering from polio at a young age, Lange suffered weakness in her right leg, and had a limp throughout her adult life. At age 12, her father abandoned her family, causing her to ultimately drop her middle name, and replace her last name with her mother’s maiden name, Lange. She died at the age of 70, on October 11th 1965 in San Francisco from esophageal cancer, although Lange began to suffer from various health issues beginning at age 50.
She used her photography to impact people all over the United States. She did not like what she was seeing happen to her country and the people in it. Dorothea tried to use her passion of photography to make social and political changes in the United States. That did not necessarily happen, but she definitely made other people aware of what was really going on in her country. Dorothea Lange was the voice for those who were living on the streets, in migrant camps, traveling west, single women with young children, and others facing difficult times. Dorothea gave those people hope through her passion of photography and really getting to know them so she could make a difference in their lives. She was truly a unique person with a special talent who was set out to change the world through her lens. She will always be remembered for her most famous photograph the “Migrant
Two of the most well-known photographs taken by the agency, also which are used in several American history textbooks are icons of the Depression Era. Both symboliz...
When F. Scott Fitzgerald published The Great Gatsby in 1925, it was impossible for him to predict that only four years later his story would be enacted in real-life during the Great Depression. There are many prophetic symbols in the novel that tie The Great Gatsby and the Great Depression together.
The Great Depression was the deepest and longest-lasting economic downfall in the history of the United Sates. No event has yet to rival The Great Depression to the present day today although we have had recessions in the past, and some economic panics, fears. Thankfully the United States of America has had its shares of experiences from the foundation of this country and throughout its growth many economic crises have occurred. In the United States, the Great Depression began soon after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors ("The Great Depression."). In turn from this single tragic event, numerous amounts of chain reactions occurred.