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Dorothea Lange Used Photography to Make an Ugly World Beautiful by Washington Post, Adapted by Newsela Staff on 04.15.20 Word Count 890 Level 830L

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Dorothea Lange Used Photography to Make an Ugly World Beautiful by Washington Post, Adapted by Newsela Staff on 04.15.20 Word Count 890 Level 830L Dorothea Lange used photography to make an ugly world beautiful By Washington Post, adapted by Newsela staff on 04.15.20 Word Count 890 Level 830L Image 1. "Migratory Cotton Picker, Eloy, Arizona" (November 1940) by Dorothea Lange. Photo: The Museum of Modern Art, New York Dorothea Lange was an American photographer and photojournalist, best known for her work during the Great Depression. On October 29, 1929, the American stock market crashed. As a result, the economy collapsed. This period of time was called the Great Depression. It lasted until the early 1940s. Banks and businesses closed and more than 15 million Americans became unemployed. To make things worse, in the 1930s, the region known as the Great Plains in the United States, where much of the country's wheat was growing, experienced a drought. The region includes parts of Colorado, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. Thousands of people were forced to leave in search of work. The government agency, the Farm Security Administration, hired Lange in 1935 to document this region of the country at this time. An exhibition of Lange's work opened February 9 at the Museum of Modern Art, also called the MoMA, in New York City. The exhibit is titled, "Dorothea Lange: Words & Pictures." Lange's 1940 This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. photograph, titled "Migratory Cotton Picker," opens the exhibition. Poverty And Despair During Depression Lange's most famous photograph, "Migrant Mother," shows a woman who is tired, yet still beautiful. Her beauty is not often remarked on. Rather, Lange's photographs are surrounded by words. The photographs are tied to a larger conversation about poverty and despair in America during the Depression and after. "Migrant Mother" was made in 1936 but was not known by that title until 1952. The woman in the image, Florence Owens Thompson, remained unnamed until 1978. She is an icon of American suffering and strength. She is also Cherokee, a Native American tribe, which was not stated for tens of years. An exhibition about how words are attached to photographs may seem obvious or boring. Words are tied to photographs all the time. Photography has been around for nearly 200 years. However, we have never been more suspicious about our relationship to photographs. That has not always been the case. Throughout the history of photography, there has been an opposing argument about the role between words and images. Some say a good photograph should not need explaining. If photography is art, and art is independent, then photographs should be able to stand alone. They should communicate their meaning through the image, not its description. No Problem With Words Lange made some of the strongest images of the past 100 years. However, she had no problem with words. "All photographs — not only those that are so called 'documentary' ... can be fortified by words," she said. Lange's images were often confrontational. They were part of a lifelong interest in social justice, fairness and decency. Her images often needed to defend themselves against a lack of interest or disbelief. Many of her photographs appeared in magazines or in books called phototexts. The books showed the photographs with poems or quotes from the people in the photos. Lange also took many field notes while photographing. She worked with her husband, the economist Paul Schuster Taylor, in the 1930s. Together, they added to government reports about social conditions during the Great Depression. Her images also inspired words from others. In 1938, poet Archibald MacLeish used "Migrant Mother" in a phototext called "Land of the Free." A line from one of MacLeish's poems appears opposite "Migrant Mother." This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. "Now we don't know," MacLeish wrote. The line suggests the increasing worry that infected the American Dream. An image without words does not guarantee its meaning. When "Migrant Mother" was printed in a bulletin for MoMA's first photography exhibition in 1940, it was printed much lighter than other versions. The woman appears not just white but pale. The printing feels like it is erasing Thompson's racial identity as a Native American. Beauty Was Not Accidental The beauty of many of Lange's subjects, including Florence Owens Thompson, is not accidental. Lange began her career as a portrait photographer and had a clear sense of what makes a face interesting. The beauty also creates a desire to know more and ask questions of the image. Beauty, for Lange, was foundational to photography. She always found strong visual images. One of the exhibition's most haunting photographs is titled, "Tractored Out, Childress County, Texas." In it, a lone house sits forlorn and empty in a field. The picture serves as a devastating image of the suffering of farmers during the Dust Bowl. At the same time, it is a beautifully made image. In a documentary film, Lange says about photography, "I'm just really beginning to sense what's in this medium." The statement suggests Lange's honest uncertainty about the tension between beauty and the purpose her photography was serving in capturing devastation. Lange once said, "The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera." She could make images that are perfect and independent. The image, though, always pointed beyond. The camera could help one see both beauty and ugliness in the world. It refines our social and artistic vision. There were plenty of photographers who feared that words might distract you from the image. Lange understood that was exactly the point. This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. Quiz 1 Read the article's introduction [paragraphs 1-4]. Select the sentence from the section that shows WHY Dorothea Lange took so many photographs of life during the Great Depression. (A) Dorothea Lange was an American photographer and photojournalist, best known for her work during the Great Depression. (B) Banks and businesses closed and more than 15 million Americans became unemployed. (C) The government agency, the Farm Security Administration, hired Lange in 1935 to document this region of the country at this time. (D) Lange's 1940 photograph, titled "Migratory Cotton Picker," opens the exhibition. 2 Read the section "Beauty Was Not Accidental." Which sentence from the section supports the conclusion that Dorothea Lange used her photography as a tool for social change? (A) Lange began her career as a portrait photographer and had a clear sense of what makes a face interesting. (B) One of the exhibition's most haunting photographs is titled, "Tractored Out, Childress County, Texas." (C) Lange once said, "The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera." (D) There were plenty of photographers who feared that words might distract you from the image. 3 What is the relationship between words and photographs? (A) Some people believe photographs should tell a story all by themselves while others think explanations help them to mean more. (B) Most photographers think that photographs do not need any explanations to tell a story. (C) Photographs need explanations for viewers to know what they are about because they cannot tell a story by themselves. (D) It is impossible to understand a story that is told only with words and without photographs. 4 What effect did Dorothea Lange want her photographs to have on viewers? (A) She wanted to make viewers feel upset at how ugly her images were. (B) She wanted to make viewers think about problems in the world. (C) She wanted to help viewers learn something about themselves. (D) She wanted to help viewers learn to take photographs. This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com..
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