Dorothea Lange and Ansel Adams collaborated on a project documenting Mormon communities in Utah, but the artists were unhappy with how Life magazine framed the work.

Dorothea Lange and her economist husband sought to document American poverty through collaborative works.

Dorothea Lange's iconic 'Migrant Mother' photo was just one image of many she captured of the woman with her children.

The woman in Dorothea Lange's 'Migrant Mother' photo felt that she and her children had been exploited.

Dorothea Lange's photos of Japanese Americans interred in US concentration camps were censored.

Check out the most iconic images captured by Dorothea Lange, the American photographer known as one of the 20th-century's greatest social documentarians.

Many of Dorothea Lange's most iconic photos were taken while she was working for a New Deal program.

​​The US government documented the forced removal of Japanese Americans in an attempt to garner support for the program.

'Migrant Mother' (1936) captured the tragic reality of the Great Depression

Taken by Dorothea Lange, the image shows a mother in tattered clothes looking distressed while her children cling to her. At the time, the family was surviving on frozen vegetables from nearby fields and birds killed by the children.

During the Great Depression, the US government used photography to document rural poverty.

Ansel Adams' 20th-century photographs of national parks captured the majesty of a growing National Park System.

Dorothea Lange contracted polio when she was 7, something she said informed her approach to photograph.

Alfred Stieglitz was a significant photographer in the American modern art movement

Stieglitz took hundreds of famous portraits of O’Keeffe and helped cement her reputation in New York by showcasing her work in his famed gallery. (This resource contains some artistic nudity.)

See a massive collection of Norman Rockwell's paintings

Rockwell's works sought to capture authentic scenes from American life and, in the process, came to define the American ideal. This collection includes 244 of his paintings, from his early days at the Saturday Evening Post through his more socially minded work for Look, to the end of his career. Below is 1951's "Saying Grace."

In 1949, O’Keeffe moved to the tiny desert village of Abiquiu, New Mexico

After nearly 15 years of trying to buy an idyllic hacienda from the church, she succeeded and moved in in 1949. The three-acre property featured a view of the Chama River Valley, which inspired many of her paintings.

Many critics dismissed Norman Rockwell as overly sentimental

The painter’s portraits of American life were often dismissed as commercially minded, banal, or kitschy, especially when compared with the more abstract art of the time. Rockwell, however, was undeterred, commenting that he wanted to produce work that would make viewers “want to sigh and smile at the same time.”

Rockwell's Saturday Evening Post created an idealized American life

The Saturday Evening Post’s circulation exploded in the early 20th century, due in no small part to Rockwell’s iconic cover illustrations, which often portrayed idyllic portraits of American life from the not-so-distant past. This documentary explores how Rockwell’s covers played on national nostalgia, creating a vision of the country that grew to be associated with the American Dream.

Photographing abandoned structures in the southeastern US

Leland Kent is a photographer and historian who has captured hundreds of buildings across the southeast United States over the last 10 years in order to preserve the past before it's too late. His subjects include decommissioned power plants, closed youth jails, vacant plantation homes, and more, and he has published several city-focused books. Get lost in Kent's dramatic portrayals of once-lively structures in this extensive and gripping gallery.

19th-century photographer William Mumler claimed he captured ghosts on film, producing images that stunned and bewildered the public.

Meet the hidden Americans

Who represents America? This stunning interactive photo essay by Dutch artist Robin de Puy reveals a world many in the mainstream US do not see. She traveled thousands of miles to document the stories of individuals across the country, compiling them in dozens of episodes spread across three parts, revealing the messy nuances of everyday life for everyday people. Search the index or click through episode to episode in this spectacular project.

Mabel Dodge Luhan facilitated art from Georgia O'Keeffe and others

Mabel Dodge Luhan was a writer, but she's better known art patron. She organized the 1913 "Armory Show" in New York that introduced European modernism to the US and invited artists (including Georgia O'Keeffe, Ansel Adams, Willa Cather, and Robinson Jeffers) to Taos, New Mexico, to cultivate a "Paris West."

William Eggleston was one of the first non-commercial photographers working in color

When he began exhibiting his work in the '70s, most color photography was limited to advertising. Eggleston's "democratic" stills of working-class Americana were filled weith vibrant color and would go on to influence generations of photographers and filmmakers.

Rockwell's first full-time magazine job was for Boys' Life

After graduating from the Art Students League of New York, Rockwell found work illustrating for Boys’ Life, the magazine of the Boy Scouts of America. He went on to create images for over 50 magazine covers and to design the organization’s annual calendars.

Rockwell left the Saturday Evening Post and began creating more politically charged work

Rockwell left the magazine in 1963 and joined Look magazine, where he began depicting a more complex America than he had at the Post. His work at Look dealt with racial segregation and violence, and often made unambiguous statements about real events.

Sculptor and painter Charles M. Russell focused on the Old West

The Montana artist, known for his realistic portrayals of cowboys and Native American life, began to gain national attention after traveling to New York and establishing connections in the art world. Still, he spent most of his time in Great Falls, Montana, where he completed approximately 4,000 works.

Joan Didion's 1967 'Slouching Towards Bethlehem' laid the hippie counterculture bare

Didion wrote a detailed account of living alongside hippies in San Francisco's Haight Ashbury area in the 1960s. Beyond their style and politics, Didion uncovered chaos, with one particularly shocking interview of a 5-year-old on LSD. Her stories challenged the movement's message of freedom and utopia in California.

'Our Towns' offers a portrait of civic life in smaller cities in America

Based on the book of the same name by journalists James and Deborah Fallows, the 2021 documentary follows the pair as they travel across small and mid-sized American cities to show how communities handle economic setbacks and reinvent themselves locally.

One of the most famous portraits ever taken is 'Afghan Girl' (1984) by Steve McCurry, yet the subject Sharbat Gula went much of her life without being identified or benefitting from the image's success.

One of the most famous portraits ever taken is "Afghan Girl" by Steve McCurry. Sharbat Gula, the subject of the photo, was not credited until 2002 for her role in the famous National Geographic cover, and continued to live in poverty after the photo was taken.

A photographer's long-lost collection of images of mothers

Professional photographer Ken Heyman discovered a 50-year-old box of photos labeled "Mothers" in his storage unit, with images depicting various mothers with their children in touching, candid scenes. Check out the finest of the group with this gallery.

Steven Spielberg and George Lucas are noted fans of Norman Rockwell

The famous film directors are admirers and collectors of the American painter. Lucas, in particular, relates to Rockwell’s process, which resembles casting for a film. In 2010, the Smithsonian American Art Museum introduced a Rockwell exhibit showcasing works from Lucas’ and Spielberg’s private collections. This video from that exhibit features both directors talking about how and why they became interested in acquiring Rockwell’s work.

David Bowie tried to hire Norman Rockwell for the cover of 'Young Americans'

The Thin White Duke thought the iconic artist, known for his classic Americana, would be the perfect artist for his campy 1975 album, “Young Americans.” Bowie called the Rockwell residence and made the request, but was told that Rockwell would need around six months to complete the painting, which Bowie felt was too long.

Joan Didion interviewed The Grateful Dead in 1967, before they became music icons.

Georgia O'Keeffe's subjects evolved based on the landscapes she lived in

Texas horizons, New York skyscrapers, and New Mexico deserts are examples of the subjects O'Keeffe famously painted over the course of her life. While her style remained mostly consistent throughout her seven-decade career, her surroundings significantly changed the content of her artwork.

Photographer William Mumler claimed to photograph ghosts

Spirit photographer William Mumler rose to prominence during the spiritualist movement in the United States. His photographs engrossed and bewildered both believers and nonbelievers. Though Mumler was tried for fraud, his methods were never discovered.

The Sundance Film Festival is named after a Robert Redford character

Redford purchased a plot of land in Utah in 1969, calling it Sundance Mountain Resort, a nod to his role in the film "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." Soon after purchasing the land, he began hosting workshops to develop young artists. The Sundance Film Festival (originally called the Utah/US Film Festival) was first held in 1978 and was intended to draw attention to independent cinema.

Leonard Knight built a folk art landmark in the California badlands

Slab City is an unofficial off-the-grid community on the site of a decommissioned Marine Corps base in the Southern California desert. Knight began constructing his enormous and colorful "Salvation Mountain" in 1984. In 2000, it was designated "a folk art site worthy of preservation and protection."

An exploration of the life and death of US malls

American malls sought to recreate the cohesion of a downtown shopping center but with the indoor, quiet convenience of a rural or suburban setting. First developed in the 1950s, malls quickly took off and became the spine of American retail shopping. In the last two decades, online retail has forced many to close, leaving behind peculiar, vast abandoned spaces. Pick through the stark nostalgia with this fascinating photo essay.

Explore hundreds of the brother’s personal photographs of flights, family and dogs

Their estate offered 300 negatives to the Library of Congress in 1948 after Orville’s death, most of which were taken by the brothers between 1897 and 1928. The collection serves as a visual timeline of their adult lives.

How Lucia Moholy's photography captured the Bauhaus aesthetic

The photographer was one of the few affiliated with the school who photographed its locations, documenting the modern style long after the Nazis had driven its artists from Germany. This podcast episode explores why she went uncredited for so many years.

What was life like as a slave in the US?

Over 2,500 former slaves were interviewed by writers and journalists in the late 1930s as part of the US Federal Writer's Project. The collection recorded images and firsthand verbal accounts of life as a slave, eight of which are highlighted in this article at the Library of Congress. See the humanity in each of these individuals with their firsthand accounts.

See a collection of LIFE's most iconic photos in history

Famous images, like a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square to celebrate the end of World War II, are each shared with context in this article. See some of history's most famous moments from a unique point of view, including photos of Marilyn Monroe, the Beatles, and Muhammad Ali.

In the 1920s, Rockwell worked as a commercial illustrator

After getting his start at Boys’ Life, Rockwell began illustrating advertisements for products like Jell-O and Orange Crush. Below is one of Rockwell’s advertisements for Jell-O, from 1923.

'The Vulture and the Little Girl' (1993) has a controversial story behind it

The tragic Pulitzer Prize-winning image taken by South African photojournalist Kevin Carter depicts a little girl suffering from starvation during a famine in Sudan in 1993. Carter faced criticism from the public for taking her picture instead of helping her. A few months later, Carter took his own life.

Watch the trailer for journalist Dan Buettner's popular Netflix documentary series 'Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones,' which focuses on longevity insights from populations around the world.

O’Keeffe was part of a movement of American artists changing previous norms

One of the most recognizable names of the American modernism movement from the early 1900s, O’Keeffe’s portrayals of nature strayed from realism and prioritized emotional truth, using elements like bold colors and abstract shapes to capture the feeling of observing her subjects.

Poet Robert Lowell was once convinced communists were invading an artist colony

In 1949, the Pulitzer winner accused Elizabeth Ames, director of the Yaddo artist colony in Saratoga Springs, New York, of colluding with Agnes Smedley, a journalist who'd been staying on the property for years and who was working on a project sympathetic to communist causes.

Hear the story behind 11 iconic Super Bowl photos, told by the photographer who shot them

Sports Illustrated legend Walter Iooss Jr. revisits 11 unforgettable Super Bowl images—including Namath, Montana, and Taylor—explaining how light, access, and timing captured moments that defined the game’s visual history.

A look inside North Korea through photographs

What does life look like inside North Korea? Get a behind-the-scenes peek through 38 photos in the Atlantic.

Writer Gay Talese has unorthodox practices for researching his stories

Since Talese began working at the New York Times in the 1950s, he has woven eccentric details into his stories about the people he covers. His immersive journalistic methods, such as living in a nudist colony, sparked controversy, but also helped him uncover aspects of people's lives.

Rockwell based many of his paintings on staged photographs

Rockwell’s work was often noted for its realism. His paintings' near-photographic precision was no accident. Early in his career, he painted from live models. Later, he’d conceived a scene, staged it, photographed it, and then used the photos as the foundation for his paintings.

Explore Stonehenge up close with photos and a 3D model

This Google Arts & Culture gallery brings Stonehenge into sharp focus through Life magazine archives, Getty Images, and a rotatable Google Earth model—plus a virtual tour that is close enough to spot lichen on the 30-foot sarsen stones.