Dorothea Lange

Perhaps the photographer most closely identified with the Farm Security Administration and the Great Depression is Dorothea Lange. Her iconic images simultaneously convey the bleak economic situation and the strength of the subjects. The F.S.A. frequently sent her to document migrant farming communities in California’s central valley.  The soiled shoes, torn hat, and dirty clothes of the former farmer in Migrant Agricultural Worker Near Holtville, California combine to convey a portrait of a man disappointed yet retaining an element of pride and strength.

During the Great Depression, hundreds of thousands of Midwestern famers and their families poured into California, competing for limited jobs and land.  Overcrowded migrant camps led to long lines for the government relief checks that were part of the New Deal stimulus package intended to help the unemployed. Trained as a portraitist, Lange would wait to capture a facial expression or hand gesture that gave insight into the life of the person in the image. In Waiting for the Relief Checks at Calipatria, California one face stands out as an individual.  This man’s expression is tired and brooding, his clothes are dusty, and yet Lange portrays his determination and hope.