Dorothea Lange was born in New York City in 1895. Her father was a successful Danish-born photographer and she grew up in the art scene of New York City, attending the progressive Ethical Culture School. At age 17, Lange began training to be a commercial artist and she went on to become a well known portrait artist. But during World War I she volunteered for the Red Cross and served overseas as a nurse
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Upon her return home she studied at the University of California and received her B.A. degree in 1923 and then continued at the University of California to earn her M.A. degree in 1925.
Lange spent over half a lifetime taking photographs of subjects ranging from still lifes to portraits and recording conditions in farms and welfare centers across America's heartland.