“Dorothea Lange: Grab a Hunk of Lightning”: A granddaughter considers the legacy of a devoted photographer. Credit Paul S. Taylor

I recently watched this documentary:

Lange (1895-1965), the photographer known for gritty, evocative pictures of the Depression, has influenced not only countless photographers but also our sense of national identity, helping to define the United States of the middle of the last century through her images. The film examines her career and how some of her best-known photographs came about, among them “Migrant Mother,” an image so widely reproduced and imitated that Lange says of it in a film clip: “It doesn’t belong to me anymore. It belongs to the world.”

“Dorothea Lange: Grab a Hunk of Lightning,” written and directed by Lange’s granddaughter, airs Friday night on PBS’s “American Masters.”
Source: PBS Documentary Looks at the Life of Dorothea Lange

It’s well worth watching. I can also heartily recommend Dorothea Lange: A Life Beyond Limits. It’s a fascinating mix of documentary, history, biography and photography. Really very engaging in its portrayal of Lange as very much a part of of her time, but willing to pursue her passion and break with traditional roles. I suspect that this was more improvement of social conditions than it was pure photography. Photography for her was just a means to an end.