Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother"

    

           Dorothea Lange’s Migrant Mother photographed in February 1936 is one of a series of six photographs taken at a pea pickers’ camp in Nipomo, California. Lange was concluding a month’s assignment as a photographer for the Resettlement Administration, later known as Farm Security Administration. She was driving home when she passed by the camp’s sign. After driving on for twenty miles, she turned back to the camp, “following instinct, not reason.” This compelling picture features Florence Owens Thompson and her children (Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother"). It made its first appearance in the San Francisco News on March 10, 1936, as part of a story demanding relief for the starving pea pickers (Hariman and Lucaites).

            This photograph was taken in the context of the Great Depression, capturing a sense of individual worth and class difficulties. The close distance gives a sense of personal anxiety as the woman silently hides her fears for her children, while their dirty and ragged clothes display the hardships of the lower class. The gesture of her right hand reaching up to her face depicts tension. Physical strength can be interpreted through her working hands while emotional weakness can be shown through her absent-minded facial expression. The rest of the picture narrates defensiveness as the bodies of the two children are turned inwards to the mother. She seems strong yet vulnerable, for her body and head are tilted forward to allow comfort for the children (Hariman and Lucaites).

            Migrant Mother connects to the theme because it illustrates the inescapable fear and grief that was widely acknowledged from the Great Depression, experienced by many Americans lacking income. This photograph communicates the sufferings of the lower class, evoking sympathy and compassion. The impact of this photo began from its continual and frequent reproduction since the 1930s as a symbolic representation of America’s faith in its capability of overcoming despair and devastation.

Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother" Photographs in the Farm Security Administration Collection: An Overview. Loc.gov. The Library of Congress, Researchers. October 22, 2010. Date accessed: April 24, 2011. <http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/list/128_migm.html>

Hariman, Robert and Lucaites, John Louis, Migrant Mother No Caption Needed: Iconic Photographs, Public Culture, and Liberal Democracy. University of Chicago, 2007. Date accessed: April 27, 2011. <http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/316062.html>