One of the most famous photographs in history is "Migrant Mother" which was taken in 1936 by Dorothea Lange. This women lives in a pea pickers camp in Nipomo, California with her family. Lange took five other photographs just like this one in a short period of time on the pea pickers camp. These pea pickers were starving in the camp and Lange's effort to spread the news of this succeed and these photos were published in the San Francisco News. When people saw these photos, relief was given to the pea pickers and there was not one case recorded of death by starvation. The readers and audience were moved by these photographs and caused change not only through the content, but also through the elements of photography.

The content in the famous photograph involves four main subjects: The mother and her three children. The mother in the middle is looking into the distance or at her fields that are making her starve. Her face has a lot of tension in her forehead, which shows stress and anxiety. Also her hand touching her chin shows tension as well. Her two older children are facing away from her. Both of their heads are leaning on her shoulders. This portrays how she is trying to shield them from starvation and the miserable life they are living. Also this can symbolize shame the children and even the mother have of living in the horrible conditions of the farm. The baby in her lap is hard to notice at first but then one might realize how important it is. The baby represents the future because the mother is shielding him the most. The baby's eyes are closed which symbolizes innocence and not seeing the world yet. She wants what's best for her children and a baby needs a lot to survive. Also, there is not a father figure in the photo. This adds to the strength of the mother and how the father might be trying to find work or help his family somewhere else. The content in the photograph makes the goal of the photographer more important and creates a reaction in the audience. 

One element that added to the powerful quality of the photograph is color, or the lack of it. In the 1930's color photographs were unheard of, which is one reason the photograph is in black and white. Another reason this photo uses black and white is because it helps the audiences focus on the subject more than what colors are in it. Even to this day, photographers use black and white because they believe color is a distraction to the audience. Black and white shows the strength in the mother's features and exenterates the worry lines in her face. Also it makes the audience realize that her world during the Great Depression was bleak and dull. The Dust Bowl made everything brown or gray which would make the picture dark anyway. This was the situation the family was living in at the time and this photograph demonstrates it very well. 

Another element of photography is shadow. The black and white aspect of the photograph gives it a lot of shadows. The first shadow I see is in the background, which makes the foreground stand out even more. The dark background makes the audiences' eyes go straight toward the family in the front. Even more importantly, the darkness around the mother's face makes the audience focus on the Mother's tension-filled face including her forehead and chin. Another shadow I see when I look at the photograph is right behind the baby's head that makes only a part of the child visible. This can make the child hard to see but also it can represent how the child doesn't really know what is going on in the world around him.

In conclusion, the photograph has many elements that add to the effect it has on audiences in order to evoke change including the content, lack of color, and shadow. The change that was seen after this set of photographs was the exact reaction Lange wanted to see for the pea pickers. The change Lange wanted to see was dealing with the Farm Security Administration (The Resettlement Administration) and what they could do to help the people living in poverty. This photograph is now seen in textbooks and all over the Internet because of the importance of it. 

