Visual Analysis Of Migrant Mother By Dorothea Lange

Improved Essays
Migrant Mother” photograph is an eminent portion by Dorothea Lange that was captured during the notorious Great Depression in the United States in 1936. Dorothea Lange is well known for her pictures taken all through the great depression. Dorothea photograph “Migrant Mother” was documented the most popular photograph during great depression in the 1930’s. At first sight, inside the picture you can see a woman who looks worn-out and very tired. Nearby her, there are two younger children hanging close by her side. Yet, their faces are concealed from viewers sight. Within the picture people can only see the worry in the mother’s face but not her children. If a viewer observes her face carefully they can see that she is a young woman, but the fatigue has made the mother appear years older …show more content…
The mother has a very strong but serious expression in her eyes and has wrinkles on her face nearby her eyes. Plus, with her exhausted facial features, her children’s hair is messy, and her clothing is shabby and looks worn out. After examining the photograph thoroughly, the viewer can see that this family it is going through a hard time in life. The real scenario portrays two children and their mother in 1936 at a migrant pea pickers camp in Nipomo, California. The photo obviously displays that the family is in trouble and struggling. Referring by the historical setting, this mother is fighting to keep her family alive during a period of hard times. Dorothea might have taken the photograph of the mother and her children to show the struggles that a mother have to go through for the family during the bad and good times. The mother serious looks on her face signifies her loyalty and strength to her family. This picture also describes a clear dissimilarity of social class matters in the United States. Also, the viewer can tell that the mother and her children in the picture is suffering and fighting for survival. The kids are

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Doris Watson was born on December 24th, 1937, in Leland Mississippi to the union of Arthur and Carrie Ferguson. Doris was baptized at an early age at Greater St. Matthews Church in Leland Mississippi. She attended Breich High School in Leland. On December 16, 1956, she was united in Holy Matrimony to Willie James Watson and to this union was born five children, Debra Ann, Bonita Lynne, Darryl Thaddeus, Willie Roy, and Jermaine.…

    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the photo to the left, there is a 32-year old woman sitting in what appears to be a makeshift tent with her young child over her left shoulder and her infant new-born in her arms (“Migrant”). The mother and her older child are wearing raggedy clothing and have expressions that look either exhausted, sad or both. It can be determined that this photo was taken in Nipomo, California in 1936, during the time of the Great Depression based on the caption of the photo (“Migrant”). The photograph is of Florence Thompson who was a “migrant worker” at the time this photograph was taken (Migrant). Thompson and her family were victims of the Dust Bowl and had to leave behind their farm and their home to escape the destruction of the Dust Bowl and…

    • 217 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Being poor is just as hard on children of the family. Gordon Parks uses pathos in his photography making the audience feel pity, guilt, and sorrow. In this picture I felt really sad because of the conditions that these two young boys were in, there clothes looks very old and raggedy. The lighting in the background of the picture is dark but majority of the light is on both Flavios and Zacarias face and body, they’re the central focus of the picture. The photo represents Flavio as a very hard working brother or parent to his younger brother Zacarias.…

    • 598 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Her parents were Mary and Joseph Dix. She was the eldest of three children. Growing up wasn’t easy for Dorothea with her mother being mentally unstable and her father an alcoholic. Managing the home rested on her shoulders since she was the oldest. Her father made very little money between farming, preaching, and selling his printed sermons.…

    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “South Street, New York” Walker Evans’s photos’ are able to portray and capture the hardship of the people in the Great Depression. For example, one of his images shows these three men that could be homeless or perhaps looking for a job, this is because of how the men are situated in front of a dilapidated building. The fellow that is sleeping in front of the locked doors looks to be very lackadaisical, maybe because he is a customer just that desperate to wait all night to be the first one there at the doors when they do decide to open. The photo might also symbolize how the hard working man had to go out and do his job or at least find a job in this dreary time period.…

    • 273 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The mother and the three children are all dirty and wearing torn clothing. Their hair is disheveled and two children are leaning on her shoulder while she cradles a bay in her arm. It really shows how hard families had it during the depression. While this was taken at a migrant camp in Nipomo, California, the family did not actually live at this migrant camp. They were just waiting there while their car was being fixed.…

    • 452 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Walter Evans's Depression

    • 214 Words
    • 1 Pages

    Walter Evans’s depiction of life and the people during the Depression of the 1930s is isolated, depressed, but also loving. For instance, in the photo of Bud Fields and his family, the picture is portrayed as a depressed and isolated family. The clothes look dirty and ragged and unclean. Their facial expressions show sadness and defeat. It looks as though there is no hope in their eyes.…

    • 214 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I thought these scenes depicted the life of an american family during the american depression well as they showed the hardships of living in such a time. It was hard to find work and also to keep…

    • 877 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Scadia

    • 1068 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In my first photograph, Dakota wears clothing that reveals he is American and—at the very least—working class because of the clothing’s cleanliness and quality. He poses as if he is very thoughtful and engaged, but also casual. In Migrant Mother, the mother wears clothing that reveals she is poor because of its rips and stains. She poses as if she is very thoughtful and…

    • 1068 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dorothea Lange, a famous documentary photographer and photojournalist, once said that “photography takes a moment out of time, altering life by holding it still”. As a photographer myself, I love this quote because it could never be more true. Photography is a way to capture stories and memories within a powerful image. I’m very passionate about photography because it allows me to be active, tell stories, and my skills will always be improving. Being an active and very hands on person, I love having a hobby that I can do while hiking, going on roadtrips, and having fun photoshoots with friends.…

    • 1013 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Family Life In The 1970s

    • 763 Words
    • 4 Pages

    This picture appears to present an image of a typical day in the life of a family in the 1970’s. The children are playing outside in the fresh air, under the watchful eyes of their parents. This scenario seems preferable to children sitting inside playing video games on their computer, but sometimes danger lurks in the background and those living life in the forefront are oblivious to it. In this image, a mother and father are standing in front of their home. Their home is modest, but well cared for.…

    • 763 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    After a woman gives birth it should be the most joyous stage in her life. Entering motherhood is the most beautiful gift a woman can possess. Unfortunately, for the woman in the short story The Yellow Wallpaper it doesn’t happen for her. The woman in this story has a baby, and suffers from postpartum depress. Her husband and brother are physicians, their health advice for her leads to her being locked in a room.…

    • 794 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Lamb’s novel She’s come undone the main character Delores compare her life with television programs. Delores was born and raised in 1950 that time was when women stay at home and making food and men were working outside. That time television was the latest invention after the radio because before that people listen radio but after that audience start watching television screen. The viewers were start learning everything from television in 1950s because television showed about fashion, family shows, games and World War as Delores father was watched, and some other shows.…

    • 2287 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Abstract: This reaction paper will talk about four babies from different countries. The director of the film exposed the living condition of each of the babies in their designated country. It was simple to compare and contract the things that one babies had that the other one did not. The living conditions, similarities and differences will be elaborated through out the paper. Psychological theories will also be discussing in this paper because, it has effect on the babies as they transition into adolescents and even adulthood.…

    • 1044 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    While the social security worker retrieved the mother 's information, the writer was retrieving her own memories of her mother. She recalling and conveyed to the readers how much of a hard worker her mother was. She states that her mother started working at a young age, “after her graduation from high school” (para. 2). She also goes on to mention that her mother “carried water nearly a quarter of a mile from the well to fill her wash boilers in order to do her laundry on a scrub board” (para. 4). The mother “sewed night after night” (par. 9) and “milked morning and evening” (par.11).…

    • 885 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Decent Essays