The Inspiration of Dorthea Lange

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Last week I had the pleasure of watching the American Masters documentary on PBS about one of my heroes, Great Depression photographer Dorthea Lange.  Her work has greatly influenced my abandoned farmhouse hunting and photography whenever I visit my family in South Dakota.  Dorthea’s compassion and unyielding desire to tell the tragic and heroic stories of our nation’s poor, interned and displaced through photography woke our nation up.  Dorthea’s images prompted more action than print alone could possibly ever have conveyed.

I’ve always found great beauty among the ruins in all forms.  Things that are new just don’t give me much creative juice.  I like to see everything worn out, faded, distressed and destroyed.  To me there’s always a lot more stories among the ruins.

“It is not enough to photograph the obviously picturesque.”

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“Pick a theme and work it to exhaustion… the subject must be something you truly love or truly hate.”

—Dorthea Lange

You can watch the American Masters documentary online or look on demand from your local listings.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/dorothea-lange-full-episode/3260/

These images I shot with my niece south of Burke, South Dakota in January.  I’m guessing someone will recognize the house, my sincere apologies for trespassing.  The pull to see what was inside was just too much for us to resist.

There are links to Dorthea’s biography and images if you scroll down.

Dorthea Lange’s biography

Dorthea Lange’s photographs

2 thoughts on “The Inspiration of Dorthea Lange”

  2. Mana Parker – Boston, MA – Mana Parker is a photographer, writer, and journalist who attends Emerson College. She majors in Environmental Journalism and minors in Photography. She has interned with several publications including the Lebanon Times, the Somerville Times, and Boulder Weekly, as well as serving as the editorial director for Verge Campus’s Emerson chapter. She is passionate about the environment and its relationship with human kind, using her mediums to answer questions about our place in the world. Her photography seeks to explore a new vision of coexistence, bridging the gap between two extremes. Through a constant search for the next important narrative, Mana aspires to bring hope and inspiration to her audience.
    Mana Parker on said:

    https://manaparkerphotography.com/2017/03/28/thirsty-earth-and-hungry-sky/ Here is a link to mine (the nieces) own photography of these places.

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