Damaged Child, Shacktown, Elm Grove, Oklahoma
Dorothea Lange
American, 1895–1965
August 1936
A gelatin silver photograph made by Dorothea Lange that seeks to humanize the suffering of a young girl living in the Depression-era shack settlements of Elm Grove, Oklahoma.
The girl's direct, steady stare and threadbare dress fill the frame against a rough, shadowed backdrop, creating an immediate, intimate sense of presence and hardness.
A key example of Lange's documentary work, this photograph helped define the visual language of social reportage in the Great Depression by turning individual hardship into public empathy and contributing to broader awareness of poverty.
Medium
Gelatin silver print, printed 1955
Dimensions
9 1/2 × 7 5/8" (24.2 × 19.4 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Courtesy of the artist through Family of Man submission
Accession
425.1995
Palette
Exhibitions
