Toward Los Angeles, California
Already pushing boundaries as a female portrait photographer, Dorothea Lange left a comfortable life in San Francisco to work for the FSA and document the migrant experience. She was motivated to make work that would inspire change in the country, and her work did often spark federal aid or intervention for those in need. In Toward Los Angeles, California (1937) she captures migrant workers on a dusty trek toward Los Angeles with an ironic billboard suggesting next time, take the train. Poignant in its dark satire, since the men clearly can’t afford a ride, yet they’re on the move in hopes of a better life. Maybe one day they can afford to travel by train/bus/car, or maybe just a good meal and a safe place to sleep. This photograph encapsulates the Depression acutely: the migration and dispersal of families in search for a better life, and the struggles of our parents, grandparents, and millions of citizens, who endured so much in search of the American Dream.
