Migrant Mother: Dorothea Lange The Dust Bowl of the 1930’s left many migrant families destitute as they struggled to survive through a period of economic depression in the United States. Dorothea Lange captured the plight of one of these families in the photograph, titled Migrant Mother. While working for the Farm Security Administration (FSA), Lange took six photos, but this one in particular became the most popular image from the series. According to Dubois, the purpose originally for the photos were to “drum up sympathy” for the victims of the Depression and demonstrate the way in the New Deal was helping them. Today, the image is featured on postage stamps, magazine covers, and is one of the most famous
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However, I believe that the reason there is a lack of visual contact is to capture the essence of her pain and uncertainty about the future, which is shown in her facial expression. I think Lange decided to not show the face of the children is in order to emphasis the importance of a mother caring for her children during a difficult time. Although she is in extreme poverty, she must remain strong for the sake of her …show more content…
Years later, it was reported by Thompson’s granddaughter, that Lange said that she wouldn’t publish the photographs, but instead would use them to expose the conditions that migrant families had to endure. Eventually after the photos were published in a San Francisco newspaper, there were public contributions of $200,000 that were donated to the pea pickers. However, Thompson was unhappy with the photographs because she didn’t receive any money and felt that they misrepresented her as a Dust Bowl “Okie” (522). At first glance, Migrant Mother might seem only as showing a family struggling to survive, but the photograph also shows a mother’s determination to provide for her family. It also shows that women are just as equally capable to survive through the Great Depression as men are. Migrant Mother is important primary source because it reminds us of the economic crisis of the Great Depression, but also about the love of a mother for her children. This photograph symbolizes much more than a single family’s economic hardships and it embodies the human strength and endurance necessary during a nationwide
However, I believe that the reason there is a lack of visual contact is to capture the essence of her pain and uncertainty about the future, which is shown in her facial expression. I think Lange decided to not show the face of the children is in order to emphasis the importance of a mother caring for her children during a difficult time. Although she is in extreme poverty, she must remain strong for the sake of her …show more content…
Years later, it was reported by Thompson’s granddaughter, that Lange said that she wouldn’t publish the photographs, but instead would use them to expose the conditions that migrant families had to endure. Eventually after the photos were published in a San Francisco newspaper, there were public contributions of $200,000 that were donated to the pea pickers. However, Thompson was unhappy with the photographs because she didn’t receive any money and felt that they misrepresented her as a Dust Bowl “Okie” (522). At first glance, Migrant Mother might seem only as showing a family struggling to survive, but the photograph also shows a mother’s determination to provide for her family. It also shows that women are just as equally capable to survive through the Great Depression as men are. Migrant Mother is important primary source because it reminds us of the economic crisis of the Great Depression, but also about the love of a mother for her children. This photograph symbolizes much more than a single family’s economic hardships and it embodies the human strength and endurance necessary during a nationwide