The Migrant Mother

The migrant mother, taken by Dorothea Lange in 1936

This iconic photograph was taken during the Great Depression in 1936. The picture shows a mother with her two children leaning on her, and an infant in her lap. This picture became so popular because it showed the world what was happening to people at that time. I think the most emphasized part of this photograph are the worry lines on the mothers face, frown of her mouth and hand placement on her chin. These three qualities add together to create an intense sense of worry, sadness, and lack of hope. This a photograph about class, which evokes not just sympathy but compassion, an impulse to help this struggling woman and her children. It seems to be a simple photograph of a woman and her children, but actually it tells the struggle of a time of our history.

One reason I really love this picture is because it portrays the emotion of a struggling mother, trying to figure out what she must do next to help her children stay alive. What I have always wondered was if the children were clinging to their mother and hiding their face because of shyness, or because they were trying to cling to any hope left to keep alive and looking for their mother for support. That is what is so interesting about this photograph, that there are so many things left unanswered and open to the interpretation of the viewer. Also there are so may qualities of this photograph that make it interesting, such as being used as a symbol of beauty, motherhood, Depression, loss of hope, or simply just a photograph. It is so interesting how one picture can exemplify so many different things and express so many different emotions. What I love the most is how this photograph can still be relevant even 80 years after it was taken.