Cotton Pickers’ Camp, Nipomo California 1936

Dorothea Lange made this photograph, Cotton Pickers’ Camp, in Nipomo, California, using black and white film. Looking at it, I think about what it must have been like to try and capture such vulnerability. The photograph feels really immediate, like Lange didn't want to disrupt the scene. I imagine her crouching down with the camera to capture the family inside the tent. It’s like a raw, tender observation of humanity. The tent looks provisional but also resilient. It reminds me of some of Robert Frank’s photographs, that same feeling of being on the road. Maybe Lange was thinking about Walker Evans, too? It’s amazing how artists converse across time, each one building on the work of those who came before, adding their own voices to the mix. This photograph speaks of endurance and vulnerability. It acknowledges how much we carry with us and how we adapt.