Brigham Young's granddaughter, St. George, Utah c. 1950s

Dorothea Lange made this gelatin silver print, Brigham Young's granddaughter, St. George, Utah, sometime in the middle of the twentieth century. It's a study in contrasts, light and shadow, figure and ground. Lange creates a strong pull toward the horizon, and it’s almost like we’re being pulled into the future along with it. The texture of the road and the buildings give the image a great sense of depth and space. It's gritty, real, and very immediate. The strong shadow cast by the woman suggests she is rooted to the spot, but the composition as a whole speaks of temporality. Like Helen Levitt, Lange understood how to compose a photograph that spoke to a wider human drama. Both artists understood how to embrace ambiguity, and how photographs generate more questions than answers.