Joe Rosenthal. Dorothea Lange. Dorothea Nutzhorn (Lange) was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, on 26th May, 1895. At the age of seven, Dorothea contracted polio which left her with a permanent limp. After her German born father abandoned the family, Dorothea assumed her mother's maiden name. Lange studied at the New York Training School for Teachers but changed her mind and decided to become a photographer.
She worked in a Arnold Genthe's studio before studying photography under Clarence White at Columbia University. In 1918 Lange moved to San Francisco and the following year established her own portrait studio in the city. Lange joined the California Camera Club where she met and influenced by the work of Consuelo Kanaga, a radical photojournalist with theSan Francisco Chronicle. Lange's business was very successful until the Economic Depression that began after the Wall Street in 1929. followed.
In 1935 Lange was invited by Roy Stryker to join the the federally sponsoredFarm Security Administration. George Rodger. George Rodger was born in Hale, Cheshire, in 1908. After studying at St. Bedes College (1921-25) he served in the British Merchant Navy until 1929. Rodger moved to the United States where he tried to find work as a photographer. He was largely unsuccessful until being employed by the BBC (1936-38). Rodger then joined the Black Star Agency and his photographs were sold to The Tatler, the Daily Sketch, and the Illustrated London News. In 1939 Rodger was recruited to the staff of Life Magazine and during the Second World War he photographed the Blitz before joining the Allied forces in North Africa, Burma, Sicily, Italy, France, Belgium and Germany.
George Rodger died in 1995. Carl Mydans. Lee Miller. Lee Miller was born in Ploughkeepsie, New York, in 1904. Her father was an engineer and an amateur photographer and trained her to use the camera at an early age. Lee moved to New York in 1927 where she worked as a model. Photographed by Edward Steichen, she appeared on the front cover of Vogue. However, determined to become a photographer, she studied at the Arts Students League (1927-29) and opened her own studio in the city in 1932.
After her marriage to the the art historian, Roland Penrose, Miller moved to London where she worked as a photographer for Vogue. In 1942 Miller became an official war correspondent for U.S. forces in Europe. At the end of the war Miller returned to England where she continued to work as a freelance journalist and photographer. Margaret Bourke-White. Margaret Bourke-White was born in New York City on 14th June, 1904. She became interested in photography while studying at Cornell University.
After studying photography under Clarence White at Columbia University she opened a studio in Cleveland where she specialized in architectural photography. In 1929 Bourke-White was recruited by Henry Luce as staff photographer for Fortune Magazine. She made several trips to the Soviet Union and in 1931 published Eyes on Russia. Deeply influence by the impact of the Depression, she became increasingly interested in politics. In 1936 Bourke-White joined Life Magazine and her photograph of the Fort Peck Dam appeared on its first front-cover.
In 1937 Bourke-White worked with the best-selling novelist, Erskine Caldwell, on the book You Have Seen Their Faces (1937). With other left-wing artists such as Stuart Davis, Rockwell Kent, and William Gropper, Bourke-White was a member of the American Artists' Congress.