Photographer Research -Dorothea Lange

Dorothea Lange Biography

Dorothea Lange was one of the most important photographer of the 20th century. She was on on 26 May 1895 in Hoboken, New Jersey. When Dorothea was 7 years old, she had polio on her right leg which made her leg look noticeably weak.

Later, however, she’d feel almost appreciative of the effects the illness had on her life. “[It] was the most important thing that happened to me, and formed me, guided me, instructed me, helped me and humiliated me,” she said.

Just before Dorothea reached her teen years, her parents divorced. Dorothea grew to blame the separation on her father and eventually dropped his surname and took her mother’s maiden name, Lange, as her own.

Art and literature was the main two things that Dorothea Lange was focusing on whilst growing up. Both her parents were quite sensitive about her education which made her fill her childhood with creative arts.

Dorothea Lange attended the New York Training School for Teachers in 1913. However, later on she decided to work on photography after working in NYC studios. She went on to study the art form at Columbia University, and then, over the next several years, cut her teeth as an apprentice, working for several different photographers, including Arnold Genthe, a leading portrait photographer. In 1917, she also studied with Clarence Hudson White at his prestigious school of photography.