In 1955, Lange became interested in documenting the criminal justice system, particularly the role of public defenders hired by the state to defend accused persons unable to pay for their own defense. She pitched the story to LIFE magazine, which gave her the go-ahead to start shooting. Lange found a compelling protagonist for this project: Martin Pulich, an earnest young public defender in Alameda County, California. Lange quickly immersed herself in the subject matter, shadowing Pulich through his meetings with clients and court appearances, developing a deep understanding of the complex and impersonal judicial system, and reinforcing her belief in the need for free legal representation for the accused. While the most memorable photographs from this series capture the intensity of the courtroom, and the fierce drive of Pulich’s advocacy for his clients, she also showed the dim holding cells, the paddy wagons, and the bureaucratic procedures that governed the lives of prisoner and counsel alike, creating an immersive context for the human drama of her story.

Ultimately, and to Lange’s dismay, LIFE declined to publish the story. However, other outlets picked up Public Defender and the images appeared in newspapers as well as in publications by the Legal Aid Society and the National Lawyers’ Guild. The uniform mounts and typed captions of several of the prints in this group suggest they were used for publication and/or exhibition. Today, Public Defender is regarded as one of the great achievements of Lange’s post-war period and an exemplary demonstration of photography’s ability to capture a complex and multi-layered situation.

As of this writing, it is believed that the 16 photographs offered here comprise the largest Public Defender group to appear at auction.

The photographs in Dorothea Lange: The Family Collection were in the photographer’s collection at the time of her death and thenceforth passed to her descendants. The images represent the entirety of Lange’s career as one of the foremost documentary photographers of the 20th century, from work made before her engagement with the Resettlement Administration, later the Farm Security Administration, in the 1930s, to the travel photography that absorbed her in her final years, as well as more personal images of her family. Each print bears a Family Collection stamp on the reverse.
- Provenance
  Collection of Dorothea Lange
  By descent to the present owners
- Literature
  John Szarkowski, The Museum of Modern Art, Dorothea Lange, pp. 76, 78 and 79
  Robert Coles and Therese Heyman, Dorothea Lange: Photographs of a Lifetime, pp. 150 and 151
  Keith Davis, The Photographs of Dorothea Lange, pp. 95 and 97
  Sarah Hermanson Meister, Dorothea Lange: Words & Pictures, p. 124, 127 and 131
  Pierre Borhan, Dorothea Lange: The Heart and Mind of a Photographer, pp. 59, 211 and 219
  Therese Heyman, John Szarkowski, and Sandra Phillips, Dorothea Lange: American Photographs, pl. 120
  Naomi Rosenblum, Sally Stein, et al., Dorothea Lange: The Human Face, pp. 73 and 76
  Elizabeth Partridge, Dorothea Lange: A Visual Life, pp. 26 and 27
- Catalogue Essay
  Titles include:
  Loading the paddy wagon, 1955
  County Jail, holding cell, 1955
  Martin Pulich with defendant in court (standing), 1955
  Martin Pulich with client (hand on arm), 1955
  Martin Pulich with defendant in court (both standing), 1955
  Martin Pulich with defendant in court (seated), 1955
  Two men at desk in County Jail, 1955
  Shining Seats in Courthouse, Oakland, CA, 1957
  Martin Pulich (close up), 1955
  The Defendant: Alameda County Court House, Oakland, CA, 1955
  Defendant signing in, 1955
  Alameda County Court House in Oakland, 1955
  Two Oakland City police officers in police van, 1947

Dorothea Lange: The Family Collection

32

Dorothea Lange

Selected Images from The Public Defender

1955
16 gelatin silver prints, 5 mounted, printed 1950s early 1960s.
Various sizes to 10 1/2 x 13 in. (26.7 x 33 cm)
Each with the family collection stamp, all but three with the '1163 Euclid Avenue, Berkeley, California, Telephone Landscape 4-3880’ or '1163 Euclid Avenue, Berkeley, California' stamp on the verso or reverse of the mount; three with typed captions on mount recto.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
$18,000 - 22,000

Sold for $22,680

Contact Specialist

Christopher Mahoney
Senior International Specialist
+1 212 940 1245
cmahoney@phillips.com

Vanessa Hallett
Worldwide Head of Photographs and Deputy Chairwoman
+1 212 940 1243
vhallett@phillips.com

Dorothea Lange: The Family Collection

Online Auction 3 - 13 October 2022

1
Dorothea Lange
Kern County, California (Olson for governor)
Estimate $7,000 - 9,000
Sold for $8,820
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2
Dorothea Lange
Sharecropper's Wife (resident, Conway, Arkansas)
Estimate $5,000 - 7,000
Sold for $8,190
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3
Dorothea Lange
White Angel Breadline, San Francisco
Estimate $20,000 - 30,000
Sold for $25,200
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4
Dorothea Lange
Green County, Georgia (woman on porch)
Estimate $5,000 - 7,000
Sold for $10,080
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5
Dorothea Lange
Free Speech
Estimate $6,000 - 8,000
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6
Dorothea Lange
Street Demonstration, San Francisco
Estimate $8,000 - 12,000
Sold for $15,120
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7
Dorothea Lange
Labor Rally ('Food Not Battleships')
Estimate $5,000 - 7,000
Sold for $8,190
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8
Dorothea Lange
San Francisco ('We Demand Cash Relief')
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
Sold for $9,450
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9
Dorothea Lange
Paul Taylor with Farm Workers, Alabama
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
Sold for $3,780
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10
Dorothea Lange
Lettuce Cutters, Salinas, Valley, California
Estimate $4,000 - 6,000
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11
Dorothea Lange
N. J. Laney, Horses, Vehickles, Mules, Farm Implements
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
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12
Dorothea Lange
Man in Hat on Street, Oklahoma
Estimate $5,000 - 7,000
Sold for $6,300
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13
Dorothea Lange
San Francisco (man lying on grass)
Estimate $5,000 - 7,000
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14
Dorothea Lange
The Yanks are Not Coming, Modesto, California
Estimate $4,000 - 6,000
Sold for $5,040
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15
Dorothea Lange
Ma Burnham, Conway, Arkansas
Estimate $5,000 - 7,000
Sold for $6,300
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16
Dorothea Lange
Man on Porch Reading Paper
Estimate $5,000 - 7,000
Sold for $10,080
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17
Dorothea Lange
Queenie, North Carolina
Estimate $4,000 - 6,000
Sold for $16,380
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18
Dorothea Lange
Migratory Cotton Pickers, Eloy, Arizona
Estimate $7,000 - 9,000
Sold for $8,820
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19
Dorothea Lange
Toilet at Bakersfield 'Dump'
Estimate $4,000 - 6,000
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20
Dorothea Lange
Selected Images of Newsstands and Headlines
Estimate $4,000 - 6,000
Sold for $8,820
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21
Dorothea Lange
Berkeley, California ('Sorry, Today's Gasoline Allotment Sold')
Estimate $6,000 - 8,000
Sold for $7,560
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22
Dorothea Lange
Club San Pablo
Estimate $2,500 - 3,500
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23
Dorothea Lange
Shipyard Worker and Family in Trailer Camp, Richmond, California
Estimate $6,000 - 8,000
Sold for $7,560
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24
Dorothea Lange
Trailer Near Richmond Shipyards
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
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25
Dorothea Lange
On the Great Plains, Three Churches of Three Denominations, Near Winner, South Dakota
Estimate $5,000 - 7,000
Sold for $6,300
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26
Dorothea Lange
Clouds, Utah, from Three Mormon Towns
Estimate $7,000 - 9,000
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27
Dorothea Lange
Summer Pleasure, Gunlock, Utah
Estimate $5,000 - 7,000
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28
Dorothea Lange
Wooden Fence, Toquerville, Utah, from Three Mormon Towns
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
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29
Dorothea Lange
Before Church, Gunlock, Utah (Mary Ellen Hunt), from Three Mormon Towns
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
Sold for $3,780
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30
Dorothea Lange
First Born, Berkeley, California
Estimate $5,000 - 7,000
Sold for $6,300
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31
Dorothea Lange
Rebecca Dixon Chambers, Sausalito, California
Estimate $4,000 - 6,000
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32
Dorothea Lange
Selected Images from The Public Defender
Estimate $18,000 - 22,000
Sold for $22,680
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33
Dorothea Lange
Studebaker
Estimate $4,000 - 6,000
Sold for $5,040
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34
Dorothea Lange
Man Sleeping on Bench
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
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35
Dorothea Lange
Drunk Drivers Go To Jail
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
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36
Dorothea Lange
Pickets on Market Street, Western Union Telegrapher Strike
Estimate $4,000 - 6,000
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37
Dorothea Lange
Market Street, Consumer Relations, San Francisco
Estimate $5,000 - 7,000
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38
Dorothea Lange
Springtime in Berkeley, California (gardener)
Estimate $4,000 - 6,000
Sold for $5,040
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39
Dorothea Lange
Spring in New York City
Estimate $6,000 - 8,000
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40
Dorothea Lange
Couple Walking, New York City
Estimate $4,000 - 6,000
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41
Dorothea Lange
New York City (man in raincoat)
Estimate $4,000 - 6,000
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42
Dorothea Lange
Shipyard Worker, New York City
Estimate $7,000 - 9,000
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43
Dorothea Lange
Child Sleeping in Stroller
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
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44
Dorothea Lange
Café Near Pinole, California
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
Sold for $7,560
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45
Dorothea Lange
Portrait of a Girl, County Clare, Ireland
Estimate $7,000 - 9,000
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46
Dorothea Lange
Procession Bearing Food for the Dead, Egypt
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
Sold for $3,780
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47
Dorothea Lange
Pathan Warrior Tribesman, Khyber Pass
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
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48
Dorothea Lange
Field Workers, Korea
Estimate $4,000 - 6,000
Sold for $5,040
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49
Dorothea Lange
Mother and Child, India
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
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50
Dorothea Lange
Venezuela (man holding hat)
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
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Dorothea Lange: The Family Collection

Online Auction 3 - 13 October 2022

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Provenance

Literature

Catalogue Essay

32

Dorothea Lange

Selected Images from The Public Defender

Dorothea Lange: The Family Collection

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