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Restless Spirit

Restless Spirit: The Life and Work of Dorothea Lange is one part history book and one part biography. Written by Elizabeth Partridge, daughter of Lange’s first assistant, this book is full of Lange’s own personal pictures as well as those pictures she is most famous for. Just as Lange used her photographs to tell the history of people she sees, Partridge uses Lange’s photographs to tell the history of Lange’s personal and professional life. However, to give context to Lange and her work, Partridge uses historical events to help tell the story.

This book gives the readers a fascinating look into the Lange and her photographs. Just as some of her photographs stirred controversy, so did Lange with her life. Most women of her time did not marry a man 20 years their senior, and Lange constantly battled with the constraints of her duties as a mother and a wife. Oftentimes she left her children in the care of other families or at a boarding school so that she might have the time and freedom to travel and take photographs. Lange never shied away from making difficult decision to help further her work.

Grade Level: High School

Genre: Biography & Memoir

Format: Picture Story Book

Content:

US History
Music & Art
Societal Concerns