While taken to document unsafe housing conditions in San Francisco’s Mission District, the present photograph shows Dorothea Lange’s remarkable compositional artistry. With her precisely calculated account of her subject matter, Lange exploits light, shadow, and texture, deftly handling the tonal values in the finished print to create a photograph that transcends its documentary purpose. The present print bears Lange’s bold handwriting on its verso.
Verso of photograph (detail).
Provenance
Photo West Gallery, San Diego
Literature
Levin and Northrup, From the Library of Congress. Dorothea Lange: Farm Security Administration Photographs, 1935-1939, Volume I, p. 180 and fiche 6:64
Mission District Firetrap, San Francisco, California
1936 Gelatin silver print. 7 1/4 x 9 1/2 in. (18.4 x 24.1 cm) Inscribed 'Ca., San Francisco -, Feb. 3-1936, Mission District, Fire Trap' in ink on the verso.