

“Migrant Mother” is a photograph taken by Dorothea Lange in 1936. The image depicts a black and white picture of a mother and her children. It’s a close-up view of the mother holding her baby with two other children hanging on to her. The two older children’s faces are hidden as they seem to look away from the camera. The mother looks off into the distance with a worried and forlorn look on her face. She has heavy wrinkles on her forehead and on her eyes, but it turns out she was only 32 when the photograph was taken. The background appears to be the canvas of a tent. The right hand side shows stitching in the cloth, while the left hand side fades into shades of gray. The mother rests her elbow on her leg while holding her head up with her hand. The fact that the photograph is black and white adds to the look of the dismal, bleak quality of life of the family.

The mother is wearing a checkered, unbuttoned shirt covered by a tattered sweater. The arms of the sweater are ripped and full of small holes. One child is wearing a sweater with many holes while another child is wearing a jacket that appears to be in much better condition. The baby appears to be wearing a jacket and covered by a blanket. The baby is in the mother’s lap with very little of its face showing. The children are standing on both sides of the mother with their faces huddled behind her. The child on the right is propping her hand on her mother’s shoulder and the hand seems to be very dirty. The mother’s hair is combed back and is darker than the hair of the children. The children have short, bowl-cut-looking haircuts. The look of desperation on the face of the woman draws the viewer into the image and makes them want to know more about her story.

This visual text was taken by Dorothea Lange in 1936 as part of her collection of photographs of migratory farm labor in California. This photograph was first published in the San Francisco News on March 10, 1936. It was featured in an article entitled, “Ragged, Hungry, Broke, Harvest Workers Live in Squaller”. This photograph was directed toward the American public to bring attention to the plight of migrant workers during the Great Depression.

The photograph focuses in on the life of this family. All of the surroundings are blocked out to where the audience is drawn solely into the heart and mind of this family, especially the mother. The design of the photograph places the attention of the viewer’s on the face of the mother. The audience is asked to wonder about the mother, to question her situation, to feel her pain and ultimately form some type of sympathy towards her.

This image has appealed to the emotions of its viewers for many generations. It draws attention to poverty, hunger, pain, and futility that is often found in the lower classes of American. One method the photographer uses to appeal to our emotions is including the children in the composition. Without the children, the viewers of the photograph would be left with too many questions to be able to understand the photograph or feel empathy towards the mother. Including the children defines the woman as a mother. The theme of mother and child has evoked emotion throughout history. This visual text assumes that people will react to the strength of the mother despite her hopelessness. Most people have a relationship of some sort with their own mother and understand the pain of this mother in her desire for the best for her children which she are unable to provide for. The obvious love and need for their mother by the children despite their dire circumstances adds to the emotion of this picture.

The viewers are led to wonder whether there is a father present in this family and if so how does he contribute to the family? Is the mother the sole provider for this family? Was the father intentionally left out to make the situation of the mother even more dramatic? Is she a single mother? This is a term more prevalent in this day in age than in the 1930s, however, it would still make her situation much more difficult. Although these questions arise, the feeling of compassion supersedes any question about her situation.

If the context of this visual text was in the world of today, this might be a photograph of a Syrian refugee in a tent city on a Greek island. Greece is accommodating 60,000 refugees and migrants. What might a photograph of these families look like? Although they live in similar lean-to tents and the look of desperation might be the same, the feelings might be different. Many people look at the migrants and refugees of today with disdain for the powers that put them in those situations. The fear of terrorism often clouds feelings of empathy. If the “migrant mother” photograph was a Syrian refugee mother instead of an American migrant mother of the Great Depression would the feelings evoked be the same? The change of context would definitely change the emotional appeal of this photograph. The “Migrant Mother” evokes feelings of compassion that causes the viewers of the photograph to want to help.  