Migrant_Mother

Nicole Schindler ENGL 101 / 9:00-9:50 Professor Houston Visual analysis essay Lange’s “Migrant Mother” By the early 1930s, the Great Depression had hit the country. Also, at this time a severe drought had started in the Great Plains. The rains didn’t come anymore as expected. In the high plains, the 1930s were known as the Dirty 30s. Dorothea Lange captured the plight of one family enduring the hardships of this mark in time. The photo was captured in March of 1936 at a camp for seasonal agricultural workers 175 miles north of Los Angeles. Lange was working for the Farm Security Administration as part of a team of photographers documenting the impact of federal programs in improving rural conditions. I feel as though Lange’s care and compassion for those in these living conditions during that time was part of what she was trying to express in this photograph. It captures both weakness and strength within a person as well as within a country during such a pivotal time in our history. It also demonstrates the determination of a mother to do her best to care for her children and to endure through those trying times. This photograph is not only intriguing because it is iconic. It elicits an emotional response in the viewer that can be explained by the raw emotion of the subject, the migrant mother. The composition of the photo is also aesthetically pleasing and I feel that it holds more power in black and white than it would in color. One needs little to no context of the photo in order to feel drawn to it. The family's clothing alone suggests their poverty. The mother wears a ragged shirt with frayed sleeves that appear to extend only as far as her elbows. Her children's clothing is not any better than her own attire. The baby lies wrapped in a blanket or coat that has become soiled and grey. One sleeve of the garment worn by the blonde-haired child leaning on the mother's left shoulder is visible revealing two small holes or dark patches of dirt with the bottom of the sleeve torn. There are smudges around the baby's mouth and its darkened eyelids, along with the grimy and weathered skin of the mother's right forearm. The blonde child to the mother's left appears to have a streak of dirt or perhaps a bruise on his left arm. This woman cannot be very old, yet the lines on her face suggest she has endured and fretted much in her time. I felt her weathered, troubled face to be very powerful in this photograph. The delicate way in which she touches her face with her right hand is a great contradiction to her unforgiving surroundings. Her children’s postures are slumped, perhaps conveying defeat. The mother literally is supporting the weight of her children which obviously holds a great deal of metaphorical truth. They are positioned slightly behind her with their faces hidden from the view of the camera. This seems to silently demonstrate the mother being the central figure of strength and support within the family. Her head is not bowed down in defeat, nor are her eyes downcast. Instead, her gaze is directed out of the shot in as if looking for an answer to their worries. Her hand upon her face and her troubled facial expression illustrate her worried contemplation. This is in great contrast to the peaceful look on the baby’s face as it sleeps. Finally, the canvas material behind the family also suggests their poverty. They are migrants, so they probably do not have a home of their own and may be living in a tent. This family clearly is suffering from extreme poverty and they do not have a real home to seek refuge in from the troubles of harsh reality. I am reminded of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs when I look at this picture. How is one to cope with such struggles without their basic needs being met first' Lange’s photograph of this woman and her family speak a thousand words to me about human endurance. Though I know now that a single photograph may say many things to me when I have no context, the sense of hardship in this photo is quite apparent to me. In hardship, there is beauty and in struggle, strength is gained.