Dorothea Lange Documentary

[ShaneS]

Grab a Hunk of Lightning is the sub title of this documentary about the life and photographs of Dorothea Lange. I was glued to the television last night when this premiered on PBS.

It is now available to watch online but I think that this will only be available to those in the US after a discussion with Donald on Facebook. It might be worth a click through to see if that has changed though.

Here is the link: Dorothea Lange: Grab a Hunk of Lightning

There were many great images and quotes from this talented and courageous woman who really was a trail blazer for women in photography. She was all about seeing and getting lost in the moment and really cared about her subjects. Her granddaughter made the documentary and it weaves back and forth in time between her preparing for her MOMA exhibit in 1966 and her time in the field. Not only to we get to see the stories behind the images and her philosophy but we also get to see how she decides which images to include in the exhibit and how she 'sees' them presented as a group. That alone was a master class and I recall a couple of moments in the film where she put images side by side or in a grouping that really took my breath away.

She had this quote by Francis Bacon posted on the door to her studio:

The contemplation of things as they are without error without or confusion without substitution or imposture is in itself a nobler thing than a whole harvest of inventions.

[Donald]

Glad it lived up to expectations. Unfortunately the link doesn't work over on this side of the world. However, I'm sure one of the channels here will pick up the programme. I'll just need to keep watching the schedules.

[Shadowman]

Shane,

Thanks for the link.

[ShaneS]

Donald I feel like I am torturing you and I do hope that it is picked up on your side of the pond sooner rather than later as I think this one is "right up your alley" as my Mom would say

You are welcome John, it is well worth the 2 hours IMHO and I will probably watch it again with pen and paper hand for the quotes alone. I may even seek out the the book An American Exodus: A Record of Human Erosion which was joint effort with her husband Paul Taylor to document the westward migration of Americans as a result of the dust bowl.

The documentary indicates that the book did not sell well as it was published in 1939 and this migration was overshadowed by the other issues leading up to the American involvement in WWII. Unfortunately I cannot afford the book at the prices in the link

Dorothea and her husband Paul Taylor were environmentalists at heart with deep compassion for the plight of people and the land. Her compassion was evident in all of her work but I was really touched by the images that she created to document the 'death' of Monticello, California where the town was essentially dismantled and its residents forced to relocate before the valley was flooded due to the construction of a nearby dam to form a reservoir.

[krispix]

Glad it lived up to expectations. Unfortunately the link doesn't work over on this side of the world. However, I'm sure one of the channels here will pick up the programme. I'll just need to keep watching the schedules.

You're quite right Donald. This link doesn't work here, but Youtube will give you loads of video clips on Dorothea. Unfortunately they don't carry this particular documentary; the only link being to a short ad for the book.

[Shadowman]

You're quite right Donald. This link doesn't work here, but Youtube will give you loads of video clips on Dorothea. Unfortunately they don't carry this particular documentary; the only link being to a short ad for the book.

The link didn't work for me either but I just went to pbs.org website and the documentary was listed on the home page.

[ShaneS]

I had an extra character in the link which I have now corrected. Sorry about that

I still don't think this will help our international members view the documentary though...

[FootLoose]

drat.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks for the heads up, Shane. I'll make a point of watching it this weekend.

[krispix]

The link didn't work for me either but I just went to pbs.org website and the documentary was listed on the home page.

You're right John, but the same restrictions apply. i.e.Still can't watch it this side of the pond.

[inkista]

>koff< Hola >koff!<

http://video.pbs.org/program/american-masters/ shows it as still available.

The American Masters episode on Dorothea Lange is awesome, but it could just be that as a Californian it hits me a little harder. And it explained to me now why Ansel Adams's completely anodyne images of the nisei in Manzanar got published while her photos of of them never saw the light of day. Until now.

BTW, the PBS site also has the original documentary that you see excerpts of (i.e., the bit where she's preparing for her MoMA show) in Grab a Hunk of Lightning.

Part 1: http://video.pbs.org/video/2254813771/
Part 2: http://video.pbs.org/video/2254814322/

[Shadowman]

>koff< Hola >koff!<

http://video.pbs.org/program/american-masters/ shows it as still available.

The American Masters episode on Dorothea Lange is awesome, but it could just be that as a Californian it hits me a little harder. And it explained to me now why Ansel Adams's completely anodyne images of the nisei in Manzanar got published while her photos of of them never saw the light of day. Until now.

BTW, the PBS site also has the original documentary that you see excerpts of (i.e., the bit where she's preparing for her MoMA show) in Grab a Hunk of Lightning.

Part 1: http://video.pbs.org/video/2254813771/
Part 2: http://video.pbs.org/video/2254814322/

I thought she held her own amongst her contemporaries, she definitely held the first family together; supporting them with her work. In later years, I think she was stifled because of the controversial subject matter she photographed and also because she was partially sponsored by government agencies that had their own agendas.

Thanks for the additional links.