Archived Exhibition

A Life Surrounding a Cabin:
Dorothea Lange at Steep Ravine
Dorothea Lange photographs from the collection of the Oakland Museum of California

Exhibition dates: November 6, 2006 – March 1, 2007

Location: Marin Community Foundation
5 Hamilton Landing
Hangar 5, 2nd floor
Novato, CA

Exhibition tour:
San Francisco Public Library
January 19 – March 16, 2008
Click here for more information.

Bolinas Museum and Stinson Beach Library
June 28 – August 17, 2008
(The exhibition will be presented concurrently at the Bolinas Museum and Stinson Beach Library)

"I began to wonder what it was that made us all feel, the minute we went over the brow of that hill, a certain sense of – not peace, particularly, or enjoyment – freedom. Then, I thought, I could do a real sequence, a series of photographs on the subject of freedom, of which the cabin would be the device."
– Dorothea Lange, from the KQED film Dorothea Lange, Part I: Under the Trees, 1965

In the late 1950s, photographer Dorothea Lange (1895–1965) and her husband Paul Taylor began leasing a small cabin perched on the rocky coast of Marin County. They traveled to Steep Ravine many times over the years with their children and grandchildren, crossing the San Francisco Bay from their home in Berkeley – a short distance, but worlds away. Surrounded by the wildness of natural elements on the western edge of Mount Tamalpais, this became a profoundly significant place for Dorothea Lange and her entire family. The cabin and its environs so inspired her that she often spoke of creating a book of photographs exploring the sense of freedom she discovered there, but she was unable to complete the project before her death in 1965.

Throughout her many visits to the cabin, Dorothea Lange took over one thousand photographs of her family and the environment at Steep Ravine. This exhibition marks the first time many of these images have been printed and publicly displayed. It is also the first time an audience has the opportunity to see and experience the work that captivated Lange in the last years of her life.

The exhibition features prints from Lange’s original negatives in the collection of the Oakland Museum of California, and includes images by photographer Rondal Partridge, Lange’s close friend and former assistant.

Organized and presented by the Marin History Museum in collaboration with the Marin Arts Council, the Marin Community Foundation, and the Oakland Museum of California.

Acknowledgements

Public Programs

Dorothea Lange, Untitled, 1961
Copyright the Dorothea Lange Collection, Oakland Museum of California, The City of Oakland. Gift of Paul S. Taylor.

Dorothea Lange, Untitled, 1961
Copyright the Dorothea Lange Collection, Oakland Museum of California, The City of Oakland. Gift of Paul S. Taylor.

Dorothea Lange, Untitled, 1961
Copyright the Dorothea Lange Collection, Oakland Museum of California, The City of Oakland. Gift of Paul S. Taylor.