Dorothea Lange: A Visual Life

This chronicle of the life and work of Dorothea Lange (1895-1965) richly portrays one of America's most celebrated photographers. The woman behind the camera is revealed in excerpts from her letters, journal entries, in the words of seven essayists who together develop a full vision of Lange as artist, woman, mother, and activist, and in more than 80 photos.

Essays include Roger Daniels (History/Univ. of Chicago) look at Lange's work documenting Japanese Americans interned by the War Relocation Authority during WW II, and an incisive essay by Sally Stein (Art History/Univ. of California, Irvine) discusses Lange's fascination with bodily depictions (she had been crippled by childhood polio and was dogged by lifelong physical infirmities).

Smithsonian Institution Press 1994