Antique Way

Antique Photographs Introduce

Lange, Dorothea (1895-1965), American photographer, known primarily for her documentary images of rural life during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Her photographs, almost always of people, have an empathy and intensity that characterize social documentary photography at its most powerful. In her images, Lange hoped to record "the contemplation of things as they are, without error or confusion."

The power of Lange¡¯s pictures comes from her concentration on the gestures, expressions, and clothing of her subjects, as in Migrant Worker¡¯s Family (1936). The forceful composition of The White Angel, Breadline (1933) focuses attention on a single man in the midst of many, and so uses the image of one individual¡¯s suffering to represent widespread social malaise.

Born Dorothea Nutzhorn in Hoboken, New Jersey, Lange adopted her mother¡¯s maiden name in 1918. She worked as an assistant to photographer Arnold Genthe in his New York City portrait studio while attending the New York Training School for Teachers from 1914 to 1917. In 1917 and 1918 she studied with photographer Clarence White at Columbia University. Lange left New York in 1918 with the intention of working her way around the world as a photographer, but instead settled in San Francisco, California, where she opened a portrait studio in 1919.

As economic difficulties increased in the early 1930s, Lange began to document poverty and labor unrest in the city around her. Her work soon came to the attention of Paul Taylor, an economist at the University of California, who asked her to help him in a project documenting migrant workers in California¡¯s Central Valley. She married Taylor in 1935 and was hired the same year by the federal Farm Security Administration to record the plight of displaced Oklahoma farmers. Over the next ten years she worked for various government agencies and photographed in 22 states; many of these pictures were published in An American Exodus (1939). During World War II Lange documented the forced relocation of Japanese Americans to internment camps. Her later work includes a series documenting Mormon towns in Utah in the 1950s, and photographs taken in Asia, South America, and the Middle East in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Antique photo of a girls' high school basketball team.

Antique photo of a girls' high school basketball team. Their uniforms have an S on them, the ball has the letters "SHS" on it. c.1920s. The photo about 6-1/2 x 4 1/2 inches. The mat is 7-3/4 x 9-3/4. The mat has a few problems. All corners bumped and creased. 4 pin holes in the center top. One 1 inch water stain, plus a few tiny ones. Photo is generally in good condition with some light superficial scratches. One scratch breaks the surface of the photo, it's above the right stair railing post and is visible in my scans.

Antique Photo Epiphany School Children on Car with Flags & Pennants.

Sharp black & white silvery photograph of about 25 well dressed boys & girls in fancy hats standing on or about an American flag laden open limousine. The kids are displaying pennants that read " ES Epiphany". On the reverse is written "Stanley's / Ignatuis / 1907". It measures 5-1/8" x 8" mounted on 8" x 10" card. The mount has a 3" corner crease & a 1/2" tear in the lower left corner, and the upper left corner has 1/4" surface loss. The image is fine.

Humorous Antique Card Player Fantasy Cabinet Photo.

Playing cards: A well dressed man with expressive features and a white beard appears in 3 poses. Noted on the reverse, "Maler Hjordt, a friend, and Maler Hjordt again playing cards with himself." Front impression & backmark of photographer Peter Christensen, Horsens, Sondergade No. 4. Circa 1890. 6-1/2" x 4-1/4". Overall age toning, a few pinhead size foxed spots, upper left corner has a 1/8 " chip.

Swedish Man in Uniform Carte de Visite.

Impressed front & backmark of photographer Holm & Co., Jonkoping.
Impressed date "1907" in lower right corner of image.
Near mint.

Antique Cabinet Photo.

A dapper young boy poses with a riding crop and a fancy wooden rocking horse.
Photo by Kirkham, Menominee, Mich.
Circa 1880 - 1890.
6-1/2" x 4-1/4".
Excellent condition.

A Pair of Vintage Trolley Cabinet Photographs.

One is captioned below image in pencil, "One of the Modernized Double
Truck Cars of the United Service Company of Tulsa, Oklahoma". The other photo is of a smaller cable car in Tulsa. The signs on the trolleys advertise the movie "No No Nanette" at the Akdar Theater.
Rubber stamp dated on the reverse, Jan. 1931. The photos are 5" x 7" on 7" x 9' cards. Excellent condition.