Dorothea Lange s Migrant Mother - 913 Words

Eight o’clock in the morning, a rooster crows with the piercing shriek of a wake-up call. The sunlight streams through window panes as the wind begins to pick up. Once a gentle whisper, it grows in strength and gust until everything in its path has been robbed of its previous serenity. The early morning skies begin to darken. Tiny dust invaders begin to pummel the windows that serve as portals to the destruction outside. Then, as quickly as it began, the commotion ceases. Everything is dusty. Everything is dark. This is the Dustbowl of the American 1930’s. Dorothea Lange’s â€Å"Migrant Mother† depicts one of hundreds of similar cases of impoverished people during the Dustbowl that ravaged the American Midwest in the 1930’s. It was pictures like this one, windows into the souls of the disheartened and discarded, that brought about awareness and reform that eventually ended the Great Depression. Uniting one nation, this picture, and others like it, connects Americans to one another- not individuals, but one and indivisible. The photograph’s composition, narrative, and themes contribute to its purpose as a work of political protest as the mother represents a declining nation in dire need of change. Taken in San Luis Obispo County, California in 1936, â€Å"Migrant Mother† became one of the most famous depictions of the Depression era, due in part to its striking composition. The black and white photograph features a tattered, middle-aged woman and her two children who face away fromShow MoreRelatedA Brief Note On Dorothea Lange s Migrant Mother1705 Words   |  7 PagesDorothea Lange’s Migrant Mother A woman stares of into the distance, resting her chin on her hand. Her face is careworn, worry lines etched deep on her brow, around her eyes. Her clothes, while not completely ruined, are threadbare and tatty. She seems to be sitting in some sort of ramshackle tent, made up of a few branches and a bolt of cloth. She holds a sleeping infant in her arms, and on each of her shoulders, two small children rest their heads. However, one thing seems to stand out the mostRead MoreThe Great Depression And Harsh Weather Conditions During The 1930 S1453 Words   |  6 PagesStates experienced both the Great Depression and harsh weather conditions during the 1930’s causing Americans to suffer through extreme hardship and impoverishment. Many of the migrant farmers were bankrupt, destitute, and struggled to survive. Photographer and photojournalist, Dorothea Lange, captured the dangerous conditions migrant workers and their families endured through her photograph, Migrant Mother. The p hotograph not only displays a woman and children suffering, but also reveals the determinationRead MoreDorothea Lange: A Photographer Essay1575 Words   |  7 PagesAccording to Roy Stryker, Dorothea Lange had the most sensitivity and the most rapport with people (Stryker and Wood 41). Dorothea Lange was a phenomenal photographer that seized the hearts of people during the 1930s and beyond, and greatly affected the times of the Great Depression. Dorothea Lange was born on May 26, 1895 in Hoboken, New Jersey. When she was seven years old, she had become lame from polio. Polio lamed her right leg from the knee down. Dorothea said in reference of her childhoodRead MoreThe Dust Bowl During The Great Plains Region1203 Words   |  5 Pagesone of the most famous, Dorothea Lange captured heart wrenching, and sometimes hopeful scenes of those who migrated to California. In this image, â€Å"18 year old mother from Oklahoma, now a California migrant†, taken by Dorothea Lange, successfully employs her credibility to display pathos by invoking a sense of hope and empathy in the viewer with the display of strength in family. Within the photo, the power of family, and the hope that it conveys can be seen with the mother. The mother’s face showsRead MoreDorothea Lange And The Farm Security Agency Essay1258 Words   |  6 PagesDorothea Lange and the Farm Security Agency: From 1935 - 1944, the photographic program of the Farm Security Administration, embarked on a nationwide quest to document, collect and create a pictorial record of American life during the 1930s and 1940s. Spanning all fifty states, the photographers produced more than 175,000 black and white negatives, crafting one of the most immense and important photographic compositions in American history. Created by the federal government, the photography projectRead MoreAn Analysis of Dorothea Langes Photograph Migrant Mother1662 Words   |  7 PagesMigrant Mother Introduction Dorothea Lange is an experienced photographer, born on the 26th day of March 1895. Her works have been a source of insight for many people and this has proved very effective to contemporary photographers. There are many works that this woman did during her time and it is important to acknowledge them. Migrant Mother is one of these works and the applause that it has gotten from the viewers clearly portrays expertness at its best. The photo revolves around the life andRead MoreA Picture Can Tell Us1186 Words   |  5 PagesA picture can tell us a thousand words and ways to show us our history. Photographers have been moving many of american s deeply and helped support the new deal legislation from sharecroppers, farmers and migrant workers. Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, Carl Mydans, Marion Post Wolcott, Ben Shahn, Russell Lee, Arthur Rothstein, and John Vachon, were all photographers, during The Great Depression, who wanted to show the government what the world had become. Every single person that is named in thisRead MoreDepression, Escapism, and Hope: The Story of 1930s America1500 Words   |  6 Pagesneed filled every street corner. Dorothea Lange, a young photographer at the time, found inspiration in the sad eyes of the needy. Through photos such as â€Å"Migrant Mother†, Lange captured the desperate sentiment of the decade that no words could demonstrate so clearly. Born on May 26, 1895, Dorothea Lange grew up in Hoboken, New Jersey. As a child of education advocates, Lange attended school, but never with much interest. After completing her academic educatio n, Lange studied art form at Columbia UniversityRead MoreDorothea Lange s Portrait Of Beauty And Creativity1169 Words   |  5 Pagesworks of beauty and creativity, Dorothea Lange proved that her art is authenticity as she depicted the Great Depression of the 30s and the Japanese Internment of the 40s without filters; moreover, Lange s photographs embodies the failure of the American ideal in periods of poverty, dejection and discrimination. Lange s family inspired her later career in photography by exposing her to endless possibilities of creativity. After studying at Columbia University, Lange boldly decided to become a photographerRead MoreLeadership, Policy, And Change : Beyond The Darkroom : Documentary Photography As A Tool For Social Change2001 Words   |  9 Pagessupport for federal child labor regulations in the U.S. (Cade, 2013). Gordon Parks’ photos of black Americans from the 1940s to the 1970s made the struggle against racism relatable to TIME Magazine’s mostly white readers (Mason, 2016). Dorothea Lange’s photos of migrant workers and families humanized the consequences of the Great Depression and invoked the government to provide aid against starvation (Taylor, 2014). While each of these circumstances are very different, they all share one common thread: