To post-meeting minglers one Sunday afternoon in 1953, it seemed like any other Toquerville, Utah, Sabbath. Yet this moment captured famed photographer Dorothea Lange’s interest and became part of her photo essay of rural Mormon life, a selection of which was published in Life magazine under the title “Three Mormon Towns.” This photo, Leaving Church, although never published in Life, is one of 62 images from the photo essay on display at the BYU Museum of Art through April 30. The museum has acquired 21 of the images. The exhibit reflects Lange’s “genuine admiration for people who labored on the land,who were living by their conviction, who had a sense of purpose,” says curator Diana L. Turnbow (BA ’92).
