Dorothea Lange's Art and Politics in Depression-Era Photography

Introduction: Art, Politics, and Lange's Dual Legacy

"Although many do not know her name, her photographs live in the subconscious of virtually anyone in the United States who has any concept of that economic disaster" (Gordon 698). Yet, as noted by professor of history Linda Gordon, Dorothea Lange was not someone who idly wandered among the farm workers whose images she captured on film. She had a highly specific political agenda and had been hired by the Farm Security Administration (FSA) to capture her images. There has been a dual, contrasting interpretation of Lange through the ages: one perspective views her work as essentially political, as Gordon does, while another — represented by James Curtis — sees her work as more personal than political: "Lange sought to create a transcendent image that would communicate her sense of the migrants' condition. She created a portrait that incorporated elements she knew her contemporaries would understand and find worthy of support" (Curtis 2).

This dual sense of both politics and art can be seen not only in Lange's most famous photographs like Migrant Mother but also in less controversial shots like Candidate for Congress (General Walter Faulkner) and a Tennessee Farmer, Crossville, Tennessee. Ultimately, rather than viewing Lange's work in either/or terms — as either political or artistic — it is important to respect her fusion of both.

Reading the Visual Contrasts in Candidate for Congress

In the case of the photograph Candidate for Congress, the political implications are more subtle than in some of Lange's other works. A well-fed man in a white Colonel Sanders-style seersucker suit and a straw boater stands before a large car with a sign on top of it. General Walter Faulkner's status is evident from his imposing stature and clean-shaven face, and the fact that he holds a book marks him as someone with power — the power of city life, literacy, and wealth. In contrast, the farmer with whom he is speaking is thin, evidently underfed, and holds a pitchfork. He has a neatly trimmed white beard, suspenders, and a hat, and he has clearly tried to make himself look presentable before this politician. Yet there is a stark contrast between the poverty and manual labor of one man and the apparent lack of labor of the other.

The implication is clear: the man running for office has not done a day of hard physical work and does not fully understand the struggles of the farmer. The farmer is putting his hopes in the politician, and the fact that the two stand close together — with the farmer reaching out, appealing to Faulkner — conveys his vulnerability, trust, and desperation. The farmer appears unspoiled, homespun, and trusting, while the whiteness of the politician's suit suggests a man in a white hat, symbolically positioning himself as a rescuer of the lower class. Even the children on the periphery of the photograph reflect this contrast of city and country, wealth and destitution. A young boy dressed almost exactly like the farmer stands watching the scene unfold, while two other children — perhaps the politician's son and daughter — are dressed in crisp shorts and a clean shirt.

Class, Sharecropping, and Generational Inequality

Gordon would no doubt see the documentarian in Lange's evident contrast between the man who supposedly represents the interests of farmers and the actual farmers themselves. The photograph is clearly set in Tennessee, which Gordon identifies as one of the four regional types of agriculture evident in the Southern United States. "Sharecropping in the South" was probably the least equitable form of farming from the farmer's perspective: "In the Southeast, slavery had built a plantation economy, which then adapted to a technically 'free' labor force by compelling ex-slaves and many poor whites to become sharecroppers" (Gordon 699).

The inequities between the poor farmer — who is not explicitly labeled a sharecropper but who appears far poorer than the man he is appealing to for representation — and the politician are dramatically illustrated in the contrast between their attire. The fact that the farmer's son (or grandson) is similarly dressed highlights the degree to which such inequities are passed down from generation to generation. Just as General Faulkner's children (or those dressed like him) wear fine clothes unsuited for manual labor, the farmer's children wear clothes that seem to mark them for a life of working the land. Despite changes in American agriculture, including increasing mechanization, the class system of the South appears unwaveringly persistent.

Conclusion: Beyond the False Dichotomy

Photography is thus indeed a subjective art and always involves some form of positioning — both in a literal sense and in a figurative one. Lange's photographs were solicited by the government and reflect the period of history in which they were crafted, not only because of their subject matter but also because of the degree to which they embody the New Deal agenda. However, it is a false dichotomy to characterize Lange as either a purely political or purely artistic photographer. Through the subtleties of her art — particularly her use of color in the Candidate for Congress photograph — she transcends an explicit institutional agenda and conveys the nuances of American Southern politics of the era in a way that words alone never could.

Works Cited

Curtis, James C. "Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother, and the Culture of the Great Depression." Winterthur Portfolio, 21, No. 1 (Spring 1986): 1–20.

Gordon, Linda. "Dorothea Lange: The Photographer as Agricultural Sociologist." The Journal of American History, 93.3 (Dec. 2006): 698–727.