Diane Arbus And Dorothea Lange

After viewing these six pictures, I consider that it is almost impossible to feel sad or depressed when looking at Elliott Erwitt work. Finally, the essay will be finished by mentioning a quote of him that I believe perfectly represents what photography is about and how it reaches out to most people: "It's about reacting to what you see, hopefully without preconception. You can find pictures anywhere. It's simply a matter of noticing things and organizing them. You just have to care about what's around you and have a concern with humanity and the human comedy.

Taking photographs may seem simple, but being a photographer is more than browsing through the viewfinder and pushing the exposure button. A photographer needs to know how to analyze the scene, speak in words that language cannot, and reach to the souls of people through a picture. During the Great Depression, many photographers captured the scenes of poverty and grief. However, there was only one photographer that truly captured the souls of Americans. According to Roy Stryker, Dorothea Lange "had the most sensitivity and the most rapport with people" (Stryker and Wood 41). Dorothea Lange was a phenomenal photographer that seized the hearts of people during the 1930s and beyond, and greatly affected the times of the Great Depression.

To begin with, Lange helped perceive the poor living conditions of the 1900’s through her photo of the migrant mother and three children. For instance, Lange with her photo of the migrant mother helped raise awareness, for the federal government gave the pea pickers camp, where the migrant mother had been distinguished, “twenty thousand pounds of food”. (Starr 48) The photo of the unfortunate pea pickers helped people realize how hopeless they really were. This creating a willingness to help. Showing Lange's photography ability to create empathy through a simple photo. In addition, the mother was so desperate for help that when the picture was taking place, “there she sat in the lean-to-tent” motionless. (Starr 47) The migrant mother was so

In “Ways of Seeing”, John Berger, an English art critic, argues that images are important for the present-day by saying, “No other kind of relic or text from the past can offer such direct testimony about the world which surrounded other people at other times. In this respect images are more precise and richer literature” (10). John Berger allowed others to see the true meaning behind certain art pieces in “Ways of Seeing”. Images and art show what people experienced in the past allowing others to see for themselves rather than be told how an event occurred. There are two images that represent the above claim, Arnold Eagle and David Robbins’ photo of a little boy in New York City, and Dorothea Lange’s image of a migratory family from Texas; both were taken during the Great Depression.

For many years photojournalism has been considered a transformative form of media, meaning that through the use of photographs photojournalism has the ability to transform our way of thinking by reconstructing the conscious of our society. Photojournalism achieves this effect by forcing society to reconsider its actions as it relates to humanity by using photographs to both illicit emotions and cause reactions that, if done properly can result in social change. Photojournalism is an important branch of visual media when

Dorothea Lange’s Migrant Mother is a photograph that documents a moment of distress within American history. The image works as a visual representation of suffering for those who were lucky enough not to live within the Dust Bowl region. To many it is uncertain if Lange’s image became an American Icon because of the struggle it presented or because of the eye capturing composition of it. However, with this image came forth the issue of a photos validity after photo manipulation, as Lange edited the image by removing the thumb of the mother who was a large subject. Despite the slight manipulation in Migrant Mother, the photograph still presents the situation truthfully, making the photograph function as both a work of art and a historical document.

During the nineteenth century, Women began to have an important role in natural rights and female education. Dorothea Dix and Mary Lyons spent their life fighting to help better society. Dorothea Dix was tireless in exposing mistreatment of those who were diagnosed with mental illness or who were institutionalized in the 19th century. She helped effect change for thousands of people. Mary Lyon was a female educator. She founded Mount Holyoke College, the first women’s college.

For this essay the works of Robert Draper, author of “Why Photos Matter,” and Fred Ritchen, author of “Photography Changes the Way News is Reported,” will be analyzed. Though both deal with the topic of photography, their take on the matter is very different. While Ritchen is a photographer who writes on “what professional photographers will be doing in the future,” Draper is a writer for the National Geographic writing on how the photographers of the magazine share “a hunger for the unknown.” Both writers, however, write on the topic of photographers having a deeper understanding of their subjects, Ritchen due to research and practice, and Draper because the photographers “sit [with] their subjects, just listening to them.” In both essays the need for a deeper understanding of the

In the article, “Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother, and the Culture of the Great Depression” by James C. Curtis, we understand what it takes to get the perfect photo to represent a message. Dorothea Lange became very popular during her time and is known especially for her photo, Migrant Mother, which documents life during the Great Depression. James C. Curtis does a good job explaining the artistic decisions to this most famous shot and how many different steps Lange took in order to really create a powerful message depicting life in poverty.

And for the other half of the assignment, in this part I choose contemporary photographer Sheila Pree Bright. The reason I selected Sheila Pree Bright is largely her work, which not only was amazing but also portraying wide ranges of contemporary society and its flaws. Moreover, she seems to found a way to show what Generation Y’s view on society look like as if it were a documentary kind of like the photos of Dorothea Lange. Therefore, the next paragraph I will talk about, her works and what are my thoughts on them.

There is a old saying that says your eyes are they key to your soul, that saying must have came to the mind of this photographer when he say the eyes of this young lady. Even if she wasn't holding a cigarette, seeing only this girls eyes would be enough to make the most prideful of men cry their eyes out. Here eyes haunt anyone who looks at them and will make you feel sorry for her even without knowing any context around this story. The reason photographs become so iconic in our society is because you are able to capture a hole seen from one event in time, even if that event was from one hundred years ago, and still be able to have people feel so contented to this event. This photo can mean something different for every eye that sees it but the main message the author was trying to convey by taking this photo is a loss of youth and innocence.

The violent markings of the photo album and its images, however, produce an equally powerful message that jars the memory as it disrupts and distorts the photographic chronicle of her life and that of her family and friends. The result is a complex visual experience that addresses the use of images in producing knowledge and making history.

Diane Arbus found participation to be the very best way to take a photograph. Home grown in New York City, she found the obscure to be the front for her masterpieces. Diane Arbus found herself growing up during the depression and getting to spend a lot of time in Central Park. She ended up spending the majority of her adult life with homosexuals, derelicts, transvestites, and freaks. Diane Arbus found this group of misfits to be photogenic because she felt a part of this group her entire life. Her peers and everyone around her were very critical of her work, to the point of bullying.

Have you ever taken a picture or been looking through a photo album and felt a sudden rush of emotion? Do you wonder what caused that emotion? Many find themselves captivated by a photograph and overwhelmed by the emotions that the photograph arouses. Believe it or not the arousal of emotion from those photographs was not caused by the content of the picture but by certain elements within the photograph. When a photograph is viewed it is not only the subject that triggers the overwhelming emotional response, it is the length of time that the film was exposed to sunlight, the way lighting is used and played with, and the strong detail of colors or lack thereof. While many believe that the subject acts as the primary stimuli to emotions, the

Susan Sontag said photographs sends across the harmlessness and helplessness of the human life steering into their own ruin. Furthermore the bond connecting photography with departure from life tortures the human race. (Sontag 1977:64)