This is a chronicle of a life in photography. Detailing the adventures of Dorthea Lange, the book raises questions about the uses and effectiveness of the medium and examines her images of anxious mothers and hungry infants and sullen men waiting in long city breadlines.



Dorothea Lange's depression-era photographs became mythic symbols in their time and are exhibited worldwide as standards of classic photography. In this first biography of Lange, Milton Meltzer documents her development as an artist and provides a moving portrayal of a life burdened with illness and the conflicting demands of family and profession.