Dorothea Lange was perhaps the most notable of the photographers commissioned during the 1930s by the Farm Security

[BTGmoderatorLU]

Dorothea Lange was perhaps the most notable of the photographers commissioned during the 1930s by the Farm Security Administration (FSA), part of a federal plan to revitalize the nation’s economy and to communicate its human and social dimensions. The value of Lange’s photographs as documents for social history is enhanced by her technical and artistic mastery of the medium. Her wellcomposed, sharp-focus images reveal a wealth of information about he subjects and show historical evidence that would scarcely be known but for her camera. Her finest images . . .portray people who appear indomitable, unvanquished by their reverses. “Migrant Mother,” for example, portrays a sense of the innocent victim, of perseverance, of destitution as a temporary aberration calling for compassion, solutions, and politics to alter life for the better. The power of that photograph, which became the symbol of the photographic file of the FSA, endures today.

The documentary book was a natural genre for Lange and her husband Paul Taylor, whose narrative accompanied Lange’s FSA photographs. In An American Exodus, produced by Lange and Taylor, a sense of the despair of Lange’s subjects is heightened by the captioned quotations of the migrants. Taken from 1935 to 1940, the Exodus pictures became the accepted vision of the migration of Dust Bowl farm workers into California.

1. According to the passage, the photograph entitled "Migrant Mother"

A. appeared in the documentary book An American Exodus

B. was accompanied by a caption written by Lange's husband

C. was taken by Lange in 1935

D. portrays the mother of a Dust Bowl farm worker

E. is considered by the author to be one of Lange's best photographs

The OA is E

2. The passage provides information for responding to all of the following questions EXCEPT:

A. What was the FSA's purpose in compiling the photographic file to which Lange contributed?

B. How did the FSA react to the photographs taken by Lange under its commission?

C. In what areas of the United States did Lange take her photographs appearing in An American Exodus?

D. Why did Lange agree to work under the commission of the FSA?

E. What qualities make Lange's photographs noteworthy?

The OA is D

3. Among the following characterizations, the passage is best viewed as

A. a survey of the great photographers of the Depression era.

B. an examination of the photographic techniques of Dorothea Lange.

C. an argument for the power of pictures to enact social change.

D. a discussion of the goals and programs of the FSA’s photographic department.

E. an explanation of Lange’s interest in documenting the plight of Depression victims.

The OA is C