ARH 6930: Twentieth-Century American Art
*I am currently revising my writing assignments from my Fall 2012 class. I will post them as soon as they are completed.
Description Assignment
Migrant Mother, taken by Dorothea Lange, 1936
The Migrant Mother (1936), photographed by Dorothea Lange, is an example of photojournalism that documents the harsh realities of the 1930’s in America. Lange photographed for the Farm Securities Administration. Her ability to portray emotion through her photographs, gave her an opportunity to look at life experiences of American culture during the Great Depression. Her artistic method was intended to promote social and cultural awareness about the plight of American farmers, as well as to encourage Americans to give federal assistance.
Migrant Mother is a staged, carefully cropped photograph that insinuates the struggles and poverties of the American Depression in the 1930s. The black and white image depicts a woman, Florence Owens Thomas, with her three of seven children surrounding her. Lange captured the women and her children while the mother was seated, however the image does not show evidence of the subjects location. The branch in the lower right hand corner proposes that Lange tried to capture a candid moment of everyday life - shooting from the right side of the family not to distract from the intense emotion of the moment she intended to capture. The photographer staged the scene with the use of a classic triangle composition – this means she purposely placed the children to frame their mother in the shot.
In the photograph, the older children shy away from the camera, as they lean into their mother to hide their faces into her shoulders; these insecurities display the children’s innocence and youth. Their bodies go beyond the boarder of the photograph, which suggests to the viewer that the mother’s demeanor is the most important aspect of the photograph. Florence’s aged face expresses deep concern and sadness. As she holds her small sleeping child closely and allows the two older children to huddle near, she props her wrinkled face with her hand as she tirelessly gazes into the distance beyond the photographer. Florence looks distressed over her situation, possibly worried about how she will afford the next meal for her children. The families clothing is tattered and worn, fraying at the edges, emphasizing the impoverish circumstances of the family. While the children look disheveled with their wildly un-brushed hair, the mother’s care insinuates that she is doing the best she can with the means she has. The image is a beautiful example of human nature - exploiting the emotional connections made between a mother and a child. Regardless of this family’s attire and the hardships they encountered, the viewer can empathize with Florence due to humanistic, motherly instincts and desires of safeguarding our children from the despair and sadness of the world with acts of unconditional love.
Migrant Mother is a staged, carefully cropped photograph that insinuates the struggles and poverties of the American Depression in the 1930s. The black and white image depicts a woman, Florence Owens Thomas, with her three of seven children surrounding her. Lange captured the women and her children while the mother was seated, however the image does not show evidence of the subjects location. The branch in the lower right hand corner proposes that Lange tried to capture a candid moment of everyday life - shooting from the right side of the family not to distract from the intense emotion of the moment she intended to capture. The photographer staged the scene with the use of a classic triangle composition – this means she purposely placed the children to frame their mother in the shot.
In the photograph, the older children shy away from the camera, as they lean into their mother to hide their faces into her shoulders; these insecurities display the children’s innocence and youth. Their bodies go beyond the boarder of the photograph, which suggests to the viewer that the mother’s demeanor is the most important aspect of the photograph. Florence’s aged face expresses deep concern and sadness. As she holds her small sleeping child closely and allows the two older children to huddle near, she props her wrinkled face with her hand as she tirelessly gazes into the distance beyond the photographer. Florence looks distressed over her situation, possibly worried about how she will afford the next meal for her children. The families clothing is tattered and worn, fraying at the edges, emphasizing the impoverish circumstances of the family. While the children look disheveled with their wildly un-brushed hair, the mother’s care insinuates that she is doing the best she can with the means she has. The image is a beautiful example of human nature - exploiting the emotional connections made between a mother and a child. Regardless of this family’s attire and the hardships they encountered, the viewer can empathize with Florence due to humanistic, motherly instincts and desires of safeguarding our children from the despair and sadness of the world with acts of unconditional love.
Visual Analysis Paper
Charles Sheeler,
Classic Landscape, 1931
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