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Terms and conditions of use
Drought refugees from Oklahoma, Blythe, California
1936; printed (c. 1975)
Medium
gelatin silver photograph
Measurements
26.4 × 24.5 cm (image) 28.0 × 35.3 cm (sheet)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1975
Public domain
Gallery location
Special Exhibitions Gallery
Ground Level, NGV International
About this work
Escaping the drought and dust storms of the Great Plains region in central North America, many farming families migrated west to California in the 1930s. The fertile lands there differed greatly from the small-scale farming they had known. However, as large companies often managed Californian farms, they required only seasonal or temporary labourers. Dorothea Lange is known to have spent many hours talking and creating connections with the migrant workers she photographed in California. As a way of sharing their stories with the public, Lange documented the exhausted workers and their hardships through intimate portraits such as this.
Artwork Details
Accession Number
PH95-1975
Department
International Photography
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Daryl and Anne Whinney