Dorothea Lange: Subjects & Themes

Browse works by subject category

Lange's most extensive subject, documenting agricultural laborers during the Great Depression.

The economic crisis that transformed Lange from portrait photographer to documentarian.

Environmental catastrophe that drove migration from the Plains states to California.

Lange's suppressed documentation of the forced relocation of Japanese Americans during WWII.

The state that became Lange's home and primary geographic focus.

Environmental portraits that place subjects within their circumstances.

Agricultural communities and small towns throughout the American South and West.

Working conditions and laborers across various industries.