Book Discussion: Learning to See: A Novel of Dorothea Lange, the Woman who Revealed the Real America

Elise Hooper’s biography of Dorothea Lange follows her life from early successes running a portrait studio in San Francisco to her Depression-era work documenting America’s suffering and injustice. As she pursues her art through personal and professional turmoil, Lange’s camera becomes a powerful tool for empathy, reform, and truth-telling, even at great personal cost. This discussion will tie into themes in the exhibition For the People, By the People.