Dorothea Lange: Look Back in Anger
The legendary photojournalist chronicled the incarceration of Japanese Americans and relocation to concentration camps. Her documentary photographs were unseen for decades.
In the annals of American history, few photographs have struck the chords of collective imagination and empathy as profoundly as Dorothea Lange’s “Migrant Mother.”
This emblematic image represents merely a single moment within the extensive, poignant portfolio of a photographer whose unwavering dedication to her craft was fueled by a deep-seated anger toward the injustices she witnessed.
Among her lesser-known yet equally impactful endeavors was her detailed documentation of the forced relocation of Japanese Americans during World War II to concentration camps — a dark chapter in American history.
Anti-Asian discrimination existed well before the advent of WWII. Yellow Peril had been infused in the culture since the influx of Chinese immigrants to the US in the 19th century. But things took on an ominous turn for Asian Americans after the Pearl Harbor attack in 1942.
Soon after, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the infamous Executive Order 9066, mandating the government to forcibly remove approximately 120,000 individuals of Japanese ancestry (predominantly American citizens) from their homes to makeshift concentration camps — virtually the entire population of Japanese living on the West Coast.
With only weeks’ notice, these individuals were compelled to sell their homes, businesses, and farmland. Many students had to abandon their education, and families were instructed to assemble at government-appointed zones with only essential documents and belongings they could carry.
From there, they were processed, effectively incarcerated, and transported to concentration camps scattered throughout the US, some as far as Louisiana.
“One should really use the camera as though tomorrow you’d be stricken blind.”
Born in 1895, Dorothea Lange’s career in photojournalism spanned some of the most tumultuous periods in American history, including the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, and World War II. Her photographs candidly showcased the dignity and sorrow of those affected, their bewildered faces and uprooted lives serving as a silent protest against their treatment.
She was no stranger to suffering and the way one’s life could be turned upside down in an instant. As a child growing up in Hoboken, New Jersey, Lange became bed-ridden with polio at the age of seven. The virus took a toll on her body and disfigured her right leg and foot to the point of causing a permanent limp for the rest of her life.
Reflecting on her disability, Lange remarked, “It formed me, guided me, helped me, and humiliated me. I’ve never gotten over it, and I am aware of the force and power of it.”
Initially embarking on her career as an apprentice in portrait photography, Lange quickly ascended the ranks of photojournalism, driven by a passion to bear witness to the world around her.
Bearing Witness, Censorship
Many of Lange’s photographs from the internment camps were deemed too critical by the U.S. government, perhaps overly revealing of the injustice and unjustified incarceration of American citizens, and thus were not released during the war.
Buried in the federal government’s archives, these photos document an ignoble period in U.S. history, serving as a reminder of the fragility of rights and liberties during a national crisis. It was only decades later that these images would become widely accessible, despite vehement denials from the government regarding active suppression of the photographs.
On the 75th anniversary of the internment in 2017, the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration addressed these claims of deliberate censorship. Nicholas Natanson, an archivist at the National Archives Still Picture Branch, claimed that while Lange’s imagery was withheld from the public during World War II, this cessation ended post-war.
“The story of Japanese internment was surely one of the darkest chapters in American history — but we shouldn’t leave anyone with the impression that the visual documentation of that dark chapter was withheld from the American public for decades and decades after the War, or that the National Archives played a part in extending the darkness via neglect.”
Lange’s work during this period is a critical reminder of the power of photography as a form of witness and protest. Reflecting on her career, Lange once noted the photographer’s duty to be socially engaged. “Pick a theme and work it to exhaustion… the subject must be something you truly love or truly hate,” she said. Her documentation of the Japanese American internment powerfully embodies this ethos, compelling viewers to look beyond the surface to the stories, lives, and injustices depicted.
As we celebrate Women’s History Month, we celebrate the enduring contributions of women like Dorothea Lange. Her work, from the Depression-era fields of Nipomo to the Japanese American internment camps of World War II, is a solemn reminder of how creativity can shape a more equitable and compassionate world. Lange’s legacy inspires us to observe more attentively, understand more profoundly, and act more boldly in the face of injustice.
Explore rawpixel’s Dorothea Lange collection and immerse yourself in the legacy of a photographer whose lens captured not only images but also the essence of humanity and the imperative for justice.
Written by Donald L.
