After a childhood bout of polio left her with a limp, all Dorothea Lange wanted was to disappear. This desire to be invisible helped her learn how to blend into the background and observe others instead. In spite of her family’s disapproval, Dorothea pursued her dream to become a photographer and focused her empathic lens on the previously unseen victims of the Great Depression. This poetic biography tells the emotional story of Lange’s evolution toward seeing with her eyes and her heart as one of the founders of documentary photography. 

Back matter includes a gallery of Lange’s photographs, author’s note, timeline, and bibliography.