This is everything.

Came across this most excellent video essay by the Nerdwriter, if you aren’t familiar, behoove thyself and get thy familiar, each is better then the next, but this one, is pretty much the tastiest of the bunch.

In the short video, he goes on to deconstruct one of the most important, iconic, and flat-out famous photos in the world by the master Dorothea Lange. I personally have always had a strong connection to her, and this photo, as many of the other greats like Roberto Frank, in that budding time of candid “street” photography.

What you see however, is that it is not candid at all, and there is a master at work indeed.

What I think is so amazing is that this nugget of history goes for so many works of art out there. Any time you think that something is dumb luck, or viral by chance, most likely it is not. If you know your medium, if you are conscious of your art, then you can manipulate anything, even authenticity.

They took her thumb Charlie… they took her thumb.

enjoy.

From YouYube:

The story of how Dorothea Lange created perhaps the most iconic photograph in American history. First of a series. Go to https://NordVPN.com/nerdwriter and or use code NERDWRITER to to get 75% off a 3 year plan. Protect yourself online today! Support Nerdwriter videos: https://patreon.com/nerdwriter Subscribe: http://bit.ly/SubNerdwriter Watch the most popular Nerdwriter episodes: https://youtube.com/watch?v=_aFo_BV-U…   Facebook: https://facebook.com/The-Nerdwriter-3… Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheeNerdwriter Patreon: https://patreon.com/nerdwriter SOURCES James C. Curtis, “Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother, and the Culture of the Great Depression” Winterthur Portfolio, Vol. 21, No. 1 (Spring, 1986), pp. 1-20 http://depts.washington.edu/depress/d… https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/list/128… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothe… http://www.mobileranger.com/blog/cali… MUSIC Divider by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/…) Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/divider/ Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com/ Luar, “Valiant” https://soundcloud.com/luarbeats/valiant Luar, “Balance” https://soundcloud.com/luarbeats/balance Watch More Nerdwriter: Latest Uploads: https://youtube.com/watch?v=gqlgf_q3n… Understanding Art: https://youtube.com/watch?v=cLJAXu5OD… Essays About Art: https://youtube.com/watch?v=cLJAXu5OD… Essays About Social Science: https://youtube.com/watch?v=hBweUnkfQ… Popular Videos: https://youtube.com/watch?v=_aFo_BV-U…   The Nerdwriter is a series of video essays about art, culture, politics, philosophy and more.