Sarah Cain

Caruso

ENGL 1101

20 September 2011

Rhetorical Analysis

While driving a road in March of 1936, on her way home from completing an extensive

photographing project, Dorothea Lange spots a sign for a pea picker camp. She considers pulling

over to take some photographs of the workers, but continues on instead. About 30 miles down

the road, Lange turns around and heads back to the small camp in the town of Nipomo,

California. Upon her arrival, she immediately notices a mother and her children and approaches

this “hungry and desperate woman as if drawn by a magnet” (Lange). Without any questions, she

snaps 6 shots of this family, getting closer and closer to her subject matter with each shot. Her

sixth exposure was “a vertical portrait of the mother, her despair-ridden eyes staring anxiously

off-camera and uncertain hand raised to a drawn mouth” (Dunn). This final shot is what we

know today as the famous photograph, Migrant Mother.

This powerful photograph portrays the tough economical times of the 1930’s, with

Roosevelt’s Resettlement Administration as a part of the New Deal program and most

importantly, of the Great Depression. This snapshot of the past of only a motherand her three

children huddled around her has made an emotional impact on its viewers ever since it was taken

in 1936. It’s been featured in many textbooks, displaying to the reader the harsh conditions and

emotional impacts of the Great Depression.

Dorothea Lange was a woman who was respected in professional photography. She was

very skilled at the art form and was reputable in the Farm Security Administration. The FSA was

Comment [CE1]: Reviewed by Iris Bradley

Comment [CE2]: English

Comment [CE3]: Good beginning

Comment [CE4]: Love the direct quote

Comment [CE5]: Add “s”

Comment [CE6]:

Comment [CE7]: I would like to know how you interpret this picture not just what everyone else has said. Deskjycribe in detail this picture. If I was blind how would you describe it to me so that I “see” what you see.

Comment [CE8]: remove

Comment [CE9]: two words

Comment [CE10]: What impact does it have on you? How do you personally feel about the picture? Do you interpret it differently?

Comment [CE11]: It has

Comment [CE12]: Comma splice.-unneeded comma

Comment [CE13]: There is a lot you could add here. . . .get specific with the details. . . How might I interpret Migrant Mother if I was not aware of its history? Explain the photo? Why is it different from others taken during its time? Were there others taken of that time period?

Comment [CE14]: Why was this specific picture so prevalent than her others?

a group of photographers, around the time of the Great Depression, who set out to express to the

world the cruel realities of the poverty stricken Americans. Migrant Motherled the Farm Security

Administration to achieve what they were trying to present to the people who were unfamiliar

with what these hopeless Americans were facing.Lange describes the experience between her

and the mother in Popular Photography and states that she didn‟t“remember how [she]

explained [her] presence or [her] camera to her, but [she] did remember she asked [her] no

questions. [She] did not ask her name or her history” (Lange). Although Lange is considered an

excellent photographer, while in the total of five minutes in taking the few photographs, Lange

only learns one thing about this woman, her age. She wearily scribbles down some information

collected by only the mother’s surroundings and then leaves to head back to her home.

The mysterious “migrant mother” figure photographed is an average thirty-two-year-old

woman by the name Florence Owens Thompson. This simple photograph of her and three

children tells a larger, deeper story about the harsh, cruel times that this family is facing.

However, when Lange quickly took these pictures of Florence, she neglected to ask more

questions of her. Thomson believed that the photographs that Dorothea were taking were only

for personal usage and that never thought that they would become as famous as they did. When

photographs of her and her children began appearing, “the person most angry and, indeed, most

bitter about Lange‟s portrayal was the "migrant mother" herself, Florence Owens Thompson”

(Dunn). While at first, the controversy of the photographs seemed unfair and unacceptable, later

on, these photos would allow Thomson to gain fame, and with that, money.

Migrant Motherclearly displays the challenging times of the 1930’s and the ways people

were impacted. If there were one thing that Dorothea Lange could have considered otherwise in

taking the photograph, it would be to take it with colored film.If she did this, then there would

Comment [CE15]: Two words

Comment [CE16]: Did she take other pictures that aided this?

Comment [CE17]: What do you think that says since she looks much older? What does it say about the times? . . . she has a baby she had to be healthy and prosperous enough to have what appears to be a healthy child. . . . what daoed that say about how quickly the times declined.

Comment [CE18]: What would you have wanted to know? What would you wish Lange had asked her?

Comment [CE19]: when using Authors names address them formally. . . .use the Last Name or the first and last name togethe

Comment [CE20]: comma splice

Comment [CE21]: comma splice

Comment [CE22]: two words

Comment [CE23]: why do you think she chose black and white film

have been more detail in the photo, and viewers could see the grime on the woman and her

children. However, I believe that even though shooting this in color would have made the picture

more clear, black and white leaves the viewer with the impressions of depression, sadness and

despair. Lange must have shot these pictures of the migrant mother in black and white for these

reasons. The gray tone leaves the photograph with the sensation of a dull, gloomy, and overcast

scene. The viewer is able to look into the photo and understand the emotions that are pouring

from this woman and her children, just from her facial expression.

It’s too bad that Dorothea Lange was in a rush and didn’t spend more time with the migrant

mother. She wasn’t able to sit down and really get to know who she is, what she was going

through and how the Great Depression had affected her life. If she would have begun and

cultivated a relationship with Florence, Lange could have created many more impactful images

of her life for the Farm Security Administration to use. Florence Thompson’s grandson writes,

“Florence‟s picture taken by the well dressed lady (Lange) was on the front page of all

the newspapers. The story told of the hunger and the needs of the people of the camp. By

the third day cars and trucks began to arrive at the camp with food and supplies for the

people in need. All were fed, many given clothes and help with repairs. It was a miracle

of love and giving. Doctors came to help the sick and the weak. Many jobs were offered

and the people were grateful. But Florence wasn't there to see it” (Spraque).

If Lange stopped for a little more time to talk with Florence, there also would not have been a

strain on the Owens and Thompson family because of the photographs.

What made this photograph so famous is the seriousness in the mother’s face. Her

worrisome filled eyes make the viewer relate to her sadness. A man by the name of Roy Emerson

Stryker was the leader of the Farm Security Administration photography assignment. He

Comment [CE24]: or would the color deistract from the mother and her children? Do y

Comment [CE25R24]: do think there is a reason she chose white and black over color if it showed more detail in color?

Comment [CE26]: Why would she choose color if he intent is to make the viewer reflect on hard times? What do you think her intent was?

Comment [CE27]: I love this analysis. . . .

Comment [CE28]: Good choice of words

Comment [CE29]: Transpose to the from of the sentence

Comment [CE30]: ,or

Comment [CE31]: word choice

Comment [CE32]: Comma splice

Comment [CE33]: Add to the beginning it is out of place so far from the rest of the description.

“referred to Migrant Mother as the "ultimate" photo of the Depression Era. „[Lange] never

surpassed it. To me, it was the picture…‟ he wrote. „The others were marvelous, but that was

special… She is immortal‟ ” (Dunn). Another famous photographer associated with the FSA is

Arthur Rothstein. One of his more recognized photos of the Great Depression is Farmer and

Sons, Dust Storm. Most people today would not recognize this photograph as a specific time

period or know its author by memory. Lange uses one focal individual in Migrant Mother so that

the viewer can concentrate on that one woman and collect emotions from her and then look to

the hidden children’s faces for other evidence of the setting. However, in Rothstein’s Farmer

and Sons, Dust Storm, the man and his son’s faces cannot be seen, so the viewer can’t connect

with their emotions. Both illustrate the socioeconomic status of people during the Great

Depression, but Lange does a better job at achieving a more touching reaction from the viewer

Comment [CE34]: I definetly didn’t notice the children at first. I was like this girl is crazy there are not three children in this photo. Why do you think that is? Do you think that symbolizes something?

Comment [CE35]: how? explain

Works Cited

Dunn, Geoffrey. "Photographic License." New Times [San Luis Obispo] 02 June 2002.

Web. 26 Sept. 2011.

Lange, Dorothea “The Assignment I'll Never Forget: Migrant Mother,” Popular

Photography, February 1960)

Lange, Dorothea. Migrant Mother. 1936. Photograph. Nipomo, CA.

Rothstein, Arthur. Farmer and Sons, Dust Storm. 1936. Photograph. Cimarron County,

OK.

Spraque, Roger. "Migrant Mother." Weedpatch Camp. Web. 27 Sept. 2011.

<http://weedpatchcamp.com>.

Dorothea Lange’s Migrant Mother

Arthur Rothstein’s Farmer and Sons, Dust Storm

Comment [CE36]: do you think that she has given up since she has not tried to find shelter and food?

Comment [CE37]: How is the emotion different in this photo? What feelings does it evoke in you? What could have made this picture more emotionally appealing?

Comment [CE38]: Your definitely on your way to achieving your goal. You have a good start, but I would like to see to describe the pictures in more detail. You have a very broad overview. You could better meet your 4 pg min by going in-depth. Does the fact that the photo subject differ in size have some meaning? What made the authors chose these picture instead of ones that could evoke more feeling? What is the Significance of the titles? I think you will achieve your points once you begin to consider questions like these.