View of Kern migrant camp, community center at left. California

Dorothea Lange was an American documentary photographer and photojournalist. She is best known for her work during the Great Depression when she captured powerful images of the hardships faced by many Americans. Lange studied photography at Columbia University in New York City under Clarence H. White, a member of the Photo-Secession group. In 1918 she decided to travel around the world, earning money as she went by selling her photographs. Lange's photographs helped to raise awareness of the difficulties faced by many people during this time, and they remain an important record of American history. She was a member of the Photo League, a group of photographers who sought to use their work to expose social and political issues. Lange died in 1965. Her portraits of displaced farmers during the Great Depression greatly influenced later documentary and journalistic photography.