Devastation Launches Artist Careers

'Migrant Mother' photo by Dorothea Lange in 1936. Image taken from Library of Congress Archive, Farm Security Administration

Another of Dorothea Lange's photographs. This one depicts an unnamed dust bowl refugee in California. Image taken from the Library of Congress Farmers Security Administration.

One of the most iconic images captured by a member of the Farm Security Administration was 'Migrant Mother' captured by Dorothea Lange. Immediately before working with the FSA Lange had a portrait studio that she kept up for several years before growing unsatisfied with her work. She then joined the FSA and worked in the field, documenting farm workers in poverty-stricken areas. This is where her work became larger-than-life and she developed her signature work. Still using skills she developed in her portrait studio Lange focused in on trying to capture the essence of people through close-up portraits. In 1940 when the FSA photographers were disbanded, Lange was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. She would have the first female photographer to ever receive this award but she did not accept it because she was busy . on a different assignment. She was asked by the government to take photos of the Japanese population in internment camps after Pearl Harbor. Unfortunately this photo series wasn't nearly as successful as her earlier stuff because the government hid the photos during World War II. These photos were too controversial and were critical of the government. To this day Dorothea Lange is considered one of the most important photographers during the Great Depression.

'Farmer and sons walking in the face of a dust storm.' taken by Arthur Rothstein in April of 1936. Image taken from Library of Congress Archives and Farmers Security Administration pages.

Another photograph taken by Arthur Rothstein. This one depicts cotton farmers taking a break for lunch in Arkansas. Image taken from the Library of Congress Farmers Security Administration website.

Another very important photographer of the era was Arthur Rothstein. Arthur Rothstein was the first staff photographer for the FSA hired on in 1935. Before getting hired he was going to Columbia University. PICTURES. After his time with the FSA Rothstein became the staff photographer for 'Look' magazine, and later joined the U.S. Army Signal Corp as chief photographer. He eventually went back as a staff photographer for 'Look' magazine.

Rothstein, like many of the photographers working for the FSA believed that photography had the power to bring about social change. While Lange's photos were often intimate portraits, Rothstein incorporated the surroundings in his photographs. He didn't take landscape pictures but he did take pictures where his subjects would interact with their environment.

While there were many other successful photographers that came out of the FSA initiatives, Dorothea Lange and Arthur Rothstein are the ones that I like the best. I like Lange's dramatic portraits and the human environment interactions of Rothstein's photos.

Works Cited:

Art story foundation editors. “Dorothea Lange's Life and Legacy.” The Art Story, The Art Story Foundation, 2018, www.theartstory.org/artist-lange-dorothea-life-and-legacy.htm.

Farmers Security Administration photographers. “Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives - About This Collection.” Library of Congress, Library of Congress, 1 Jan. 1970, www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/fsa/.

PBS editors. “Arthur Rothstein.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 2018, www.pbs.org/kenburns/dustbowl/bios/arthur-rothstein/.