Blackwood Service Station, San Joaquin Valley, Riverbank, California  April 9, 1940, printed c. 1960s

Dorothea Lange's "Blackwood Service Station, San Joaquin Valley, Riverbank, California," captured in 1940 and printed in the 1960s, exemplifies her documentary photography style. The image depicts a rural gas station in the midst of construction, with a classic car being fueled. The stark black-and-white composition highlights the utilitarian nature of the scene and the quiet lives of those who work in the American heartland. Lange, renowned for her sensitive portraits of the Great Depression era, captured the everyday realities of Americans across the country, including this glimpse into a small-town business.