It's one of the most iconic photographs in American history and it was captured by one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century. The world knows the photograph as 'Migrant Mother,' and it's seen throughout photography textbooks the world over, but how exactly did the image come to be and what led Dorothea Lange to capture the portrait of Florence Owens Thompson and her children?
Recent Videos
YouTuber Nerdwriter1, who's known for his thorough deep dives into various people and subjects, has created a video essay that takes a look into the history behind 'Migrant Mother' and the events that led up to Lange capturing the photograph. Throughout the nearly seven minute video, Nerdwriter1 explains what exactly Lange was doing when she captured the photograph and shows a number of images captured in the ten minutes leading up to the iconic frame to paint a picture of how the image was shaped frame by frame to get the powerful portrait known today.
Yes, the video is presented in portrait orientation, but Nerdwriter1 is known for experimenting with delivery and he particular chose this aspect as he explains in the highlighted comment on the video's page.
Be very careful, all the images in that video are not Dorothea's. Looks like someone would have checked that out. Allie May Burroughs portrait was done by Walker Evans.
Dorothea Lange shot much more than this one image. What I think is the definitive documentary about her is: 'Dorothea Lange: Grab a Hunk of Lightning' I've seen it a couple of times on American television's PBS series, American Masters and would happily watch it a couple of more.
"While the image was being prepared for exhibit in 1941,[16] the negative of the photo was retouched to remove Florence's thumb from the lower-right corner of the image.[17] In the late 1960s, Bill Hendrie found the original Migrant Mother photograph along with 31 other unretouched, vintage photos by Dorothea Lange in a dumpster at the San Jose Chamber of Commerce.[18] After the death of Hendrie and his wife, their daughter, Marian Tankersley, rediscovered the photos while emptying her parents' San Jose home.[18]
Dorothea Lange was as creative as any motion picture director. Her camera would would make digies skin crawl . The lens she used was made by Eastman Kodak, digies may pull out hair. She was just an artist. Which may lend to the saying, it is the photographer not the camera.
If Dorothea Lange took the shot with Olympus OM-D E-M1X people would be debating about price, sensor size, heft, size, dynamic range, sharpness, noise ...
1936 FDR government propaganda video. That was their words to support a government "resettlement administration" program. IMO the photo is fine and seems to have a story, even if it's been manipulated. What comes to mind right away is the book by John Steinbeck, Grapes of Wrath.
The resettlement you refer to was caused by government action and inaction during the 1920s when Republicans were running the Federal Government, not during FDR’s administration.
The action was the encouragement of voracious and rampant land speculation in the 1920s in the Great Plains running from Texas up into Nebraska. what fueled the speculation and resulting "wheat bubble" was World War I and the Russian Revolution , geopolitical developments that cut Europe off from the wheat fields of Ukraine and the Russian Steppe.
These land speculators borrowed money to buy large tracts of land in the Midwest and ripped up the prairie grass and broke up the sod to plant wheat to feed to feed Europe. The 1910s and 1920s were also a period of historically unusually wet and mild weather in that region and bumper crops resulted. As result too much wheat was available for sale and the bubble popped.
As the local banks failed, they could not repay their investors adding fuel to the recession created by the Wall Street crash of 1929 and turning it into the Great Depression. At the same time the Wilson, the Coolidge and Hoover administrations and Congress were encouraging the destruction of the Great American Prairie and too much harvested wheat was piling up there and rotting during the 1920s President Hoover resisted calls to aid those in the Deep South who were caught in regional drought and famine conditions. President Hoover could have authorized the Federal Government to buy and distribute the excess wheat to the people who were starving in the South, but he resisted calls to do so.
If you are interested Timothy Egan's book "The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl" is a great, even thrilling read (https://www.amazon.com/Worst-Hard-Time-Survived-American/dp/0618773479).
Thanks for your view of historical events. My comment simply repeated what the video production said, calling it "a propaganda effort" to support the governments resettlement administration of FDR which was relevant to the video and famous photo. Thanks also for the recommendation by Timothy Egan. Read his "Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher" and enjoyed it immensely!
Very good picture. It was of course staged. In today's time resettlement propaganda is alive again on the other side. It's all about feelings and not facts anymore.
By the way, "Short Nights of the Shadow Cather" by Timothy Egan is a story about a photographer Edward Curtis wanting to preserve memories of the Native American culture. Seems a fitting story to share in a photography forum. Great read!
Am I the only person over 50 who LIKES vertical video? It is a fun creative challenge to shoot, it puts the visual emphasis on people rather than their surroundings, and it annoys geezery dinosaur people who fear change and innovation.
Square *is* the perfect format of course, followed by Academy ratio. Vertical video is just 16:9 rotated 90 degrees so it’s not like the old days of 8x10 paper when you always had to lose part of your 135 film frame. But for me it is all about picking the right format for the purpose. Vertical is good when you want to shoot objects and buildings that are taller than they are wide. Vertical video lets the subject occupy more of the frame. It’s most useful when you’re shooting human faces because you can really get tight. Is it better for storytelling? Probably not, but it’s the old question of do you reach out to your audience or sit and wait till they come to you?
Back when you had to take a course to get started in photography, this kind of forensic dissection of a photo was a great way to kill an hour. But we weren't there when this photo was taken, we don't know exactly what anybody was thinking and it doesn't matter anyway.
More interesting than this reverse engineering study is the story of what happened to Florence Thompson, how she received nothing and how she was located. At least that's a story not everybody knows.
The photo doesn't need explaining, but the creative process that led up to it is fascinating and shows the intellectual workings of a great artist. The viewer gains a much deeper understanding of the image by knowing what preceded it. Dorothea Lange had an assignment to tell a certain story and she achieved it. This is what a working artist is supposed to do. Great video and terrific editing! Even the portrait orientation didn't bother me.
there are a small handful of you tube vids that resonates with me both emotionally and intelllectually ,.......................this excellence joins them
The cameras in people's smartphones are light-years more advanced than anything this photographer had, and she could make better photographs than any of the current wannabe photographers ever could do with current gear.
I understand your point, however using wannabe photographers or current gear to get there is a good example of current news delivery methods, i.e. belittle a hypothetical group to show why someone else is competent. Dorothea Lange was a very skilled photographer. Her work speaks for itself; certainly doesn’t need the contrast of wannabe photographers to underscore her expertise. Equally there are remarkable images created daily, some even by wannabe photographers, who wonderfully contribute to recording this grand experiment called life.
Disappointed to discover that this was a posed session, not candid in any way. The narrator took too many liberties in his script, and the portrait orientation was a bad idea, even though the iconic photo was portrait.
It was interesting, however, to see the previous shots.
Posed. Candid. What difference does it really make? The people in the photo were not actors, but a real migrant family really living in that tent. The point of the photo was to document that real people were suffering and living in desperation, as that migrant family surely was.
Sad to say, but DPR has too many wannabe critics who look at images and search for real or perceived flaws without ever evaluating the emotional connection the images are supposed to be making with the viewers. Is that because those wannabe critics are incapable of making an emotional connection themselves?
It's an up close photo with a normal lens, so it was certainly not candid, but rather made with the subject aware of the camera. But that's true for a lot of great documentary photography. I don't believe it was literally "posed" as in the kids arranged, the hand arranged, etc. There is absolutely no evidence of that. More than likely, the photographer was interacting in a normal, conversational way, not actually micro-managing the subjects like models in a fashion shoot.
The previous shots from the session came out some years ago, so nothing in the video is actually new. I don't like that the video author makes some conjectures and presuppositions and presents them as facts rather than as his own interpretations and guesses.
I wish I could ask Richard Avedon, Irving Penn and Edward Weston if it is a good idea to photograph posed subjects. I can hear the room fill with laughter.
I was so interested in the video that I had not noticed it was taken in portrait orientation till the comment above. I had to scroll back to the top to see. Goes to show I can't agree with that video format opinion.
She was found decades later living in a trailer park on the west coast. Her family lived in a house, but she seems to have felt that this wasn't for her. She seems to have been a little disappointed that she didn't get anything from the photo. (IIRC)
@cosinaphile - The US military did not invent war. Mass destruction by armies goes back at least as far as the days of Babylon. Research on violence suggests their might even be a genetic link. Running to put out burning flesh may be instinctive. There is bad history on both sides of a war. "Why to you destroy everything and kill women and children?" "I am the messenger of God". "If you had not committed such great sins, god would not have sent me to punish you" --- Genghis Khan.
i never claimed they held authorship for the concept war .
,those are your words ,however since you are further exploring this idea i can state with confidence few nation have have achieved so much with such gusto as the USA
we could begin with the revolutionary war, and the attacks on canada my young nation immediately set upon, then Mexico a few times, followed by the bloodiest most brutal civil war in human history, which was probably the beginning of modern warfare, ..the rest is history , as they say
the USA[or colonies] has been in one form or another ,at war, perpetually , for over 243 years
a very incomplete list of nation we've fought.many indian wars missing:
Cherokee Barbary War tripoli Morocco Haiti Spain Algiers UK Ivory Coast Mexico Qing dynasty Joseon korea 1871 ]Paiute Bannock Shoshone Yavapai Apache Yuma Mohave Navajo Fiji island Cheyenne Arapaho Sioux Lakota Cheyenne Arapaho Samoa Cuba Guam Philippines Puerto Rico Negros Rep Zamboanga Japan China Mexico Germany cuba Nicaraguan Ute Paiute mexico haiti Dominican Republic Germany Austria-Hungary Ottoman Empire Bulgaria Russia Ukrainian SSR Estonia Mongolia Germany Japan Italy Hungary Romania Bulgaria Finland Thailand Manchukuo Mengjiang Croatia Slovakia Albania Korea China Soviet Union Vietnam cuba Uganda Vietnam Laos Pathet Lao China North Korea Dominican Republic Bolivia Libya Saudi Arabia Sudan UAE Libya South Yemen Grenada Cuba Iran Libya Panama iraq Somali National Alliance Republika Srpska Serbia Bosnia Republic of Yugoslavia Haiti Yugoslavia Sudan Afghanistan Houthis Libya syria
@cosinaphile - " i can state with confidence few nation have achieved so much with such gusto as the USA". True, so much so that many people are trying to come to the US illegally. Your list of countries is not accurate. The US has never been at war or declared war on China, North Korea and others. They were invited in by many countries, including Vietnam, either by treaty or to stop genocide.
I would give the most war-like country award to Germany. In term of empires, the Roman or British Empires.
no you are wrong the usa was at war in china and fighting chinese between 1856-59, then 1899-1901 then again in korea 1950-51 ,in laos from1953 -75 sporadically, In 1963-73 we fought Chinese in vietnam, Communist insurgency in Thailand 1965 -73 and more
in korea where there was no war declared the United States suffered 33,686 battle deaths if i included clandestine wars the us has troops on the ground in at least 4 wars in africa ,right now we never declared war on syria and yet american forces are there ................dying
i cant fathom why you see refugees fleeing violence or hunger as a counterpoint of justification or a wrongheaded source of pride to the terrible history of continuous american warfare for almost 2 1\2 centuries
should California have been puffed with pride that destitute Oklahoma farmers sought work and sustenance there during the dustbowl years??
frankly, such a sentiment sounds in place at a trump-et rally where some Americans , insanely,s find comfort in the idea that somewhere people are even more miserable than themselves.or that misery somewhere proves us greater.
@cosinaphile - I was responding to your list of COUNTRIES that you said the US was at war with, not insurgence from other countries moving into those countries. You need to re-read the history of wars that the US was in, especially the Vietnam war. China was helping the North Vietnamese army by sending supplies across the north Vietnam border, but the US did not bomb China. North Vietnamese soldiers were using Laos and Cambodia as a base to attack US troops in Vietnam, so the US bombed Laos and Cambodia illegally.
I am not "puffed with pride" "find comfort" in people who are destitute. I think all people should follow US law. It is not legal to use poverty or violence in a home county as a basis to immigrate.
that is wikipedia's list which amazingly i shortened !!! as you wrote above : korea was not a war we were in..... where 33000 americans perished and north korea was bombed into the stone age and many hundereds of thousands of civilians were specifically targeted and murdered by the american military ...
a war crime of unimaginable horror
so you'll forgive me if i consider anything you say further .... nonsense
and everything you previously said as well.........
"connoisseur of art" just do not get it ... ever heard of Mona LIsa? If it weren't stolened there wouldn't have been oooohs and aaaahs and lines of suckers ...
There is way too much conjecture in this video. The video author talks as if he had been there and seen the photographer in action. But photographs can't be read with such precision: the photographer did this, that photographer said that.
50/50. The mind of the artist is unknowable. Even if she weren’t dead, Dorothea could tell you why she *thinks* she created the shot the way she did, but it turns out that what motivates us is beyond our control.
I agree in principle with the idea that videos should be horizontal. However, since Lange's images appear to have been cropped to a vertical format, using a horizontal format for this video would've reduced the Lange images to a smaller and less impactful size when viewed.
The Sony a7CR is a high-resolution addition to the company's compact full-frame a7C series. So what did we make of it and where does it leave the a7 IV that it sits just above?
Lomography's LomoChrome '92 is designed to mimic the look of classic drugstore film that used to fill family photo albums. As we discovered, to shoot with it is to embrace the unexpected, from strange color shifts to odd textures and oversized grain.
The LowePro PhotoSport Outdoor is a camera pack for photographers who also need a well-designed daypack for hiking and other outdoor use. If that sounds like you, the PhotoSport Outdoor may be a great choice, but as with any hybrid product, there are a few tradeoffs.
The Sony a7C II refreshes the compact full-frame with a 33MP sensor, the addition of a front control dial, a dedicated 'AI' processor, 10-bit 4K/60p video and more. It's a definite improvement, but it helps if you value its compact form.
If you want a compact camera that produces great quality photos without the hassle of changing lenses, there are plenty of choices available for every budget. Read on to find out which portable enthusiast compacts are our favorites.
What's the best camera for travel? Good travel cameras should be small, versatile, and offer good image quality. In this buying guide we've rounded-up several great cameras for travel and recommended the best.
What’s the best camera for around $2000? This price point gives you access to some of the most all-round capable cameras available. Excellent image quality, powerful autofocus and great looking video are the least you can expect. We've picked the models that really stand out.
Above $2500 cameras tend to become increasingly specialized, making it difficult to select a 'best' option. We case our eye over the options costing more than $2500 but less than $4000, to find the best all-rounder.
Looking for the best gifts for photographer friends and family? Here are a dozen picks from stocking stuffers on up that will not only help put some more presents under the tree but also actually get used.
As the year comes to a close, we're looking back at the cameras that have clawed their way to the top of their respective categories (and our buying guides). These aren't the only cameras worth buying, but when you start here, you really can't go wrong.
Plenty of amazing cameras, lenses, accessories and other products came through our doors in 2023. After careful consideration, healthy debate, and a few heated arguments, we're proud to announce the winners of the 2023 DPReview Awards!
The Sony a7CR is a high-resolution addition to the company's compact full-frame a7C series. So what did we make of it and where does it leave the a7 IV that it sits just above?
Lomography's LomoChrome '92 is designed to mimic the look of classic drugstore film that used to fill family photo albums. As we discovered, to shoot with it is to embrace the unexpected, from strange color shifts to odd textures and oversized grain.
Sony's gridline update adds up to four customizable grids to which users can add color codes and apply transparency masks. It also raises questions about the future of cameras and what it means for feature updates.
At last, people who don’t want to pay a premium for Apple’s Pro models can capture high-resolution 24MP and 48MP photos using the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus. Is the lack of a dedicated telephoto lens or the ability to capture Raw images worth the savings for photographers?
Kodak's Super 8 Camera is a hybrid of old and new: it shoots movies using Super 8 motion picture film but incorporates digital elements like a flip-out LCD screen and audio capture. Eight years after we first saw the camera at CES 2016, Kodak is finally bringing it to market.
In this supplement to his recently completed 10-part series on landscape photography, photographer Erez Marom explores how the compositional skills developed for capturing landscapes can be extended to other areas of photography.
If you want a compact camera that produces great quality photos without the hassle of changing lenses, there are plenty of choices available for every budget. Read on to find out which portable enthusiast compacts are our favorites.
Sony, the Associated Press and 'Photo Mechanic' maker Camera Bits have run a month-long field-test to evaluate capture authentication and a subsequent workflow.
A color-accurate monitor is an essential piece of the digital creator's toolkit. In this guide, we'll go over everything you need to know about how color calibration actually works so you can understand the process and improve your workflow.
What's the best camera for travel? Good travel cameras should be small, versatile, and offer good image quality. In this buying guide we've rounded-up several great cameras for travel and recommended the best.
It's that time of year again: When people get up way too early to rush out to big box stores and climb over each other to buy $99 TVs. We've saved you the trip, highlighting the best photo-related deals that can be ordered from the comfort of your own home.
The LowePro PhotoSport Outdoor is a camera pack for photographers who also need a well-designed daypack for hiking and other outdoor use. If that sounds like you, the PhotoSport Outdoor may be a great choice, but as with any hybrid product, there are a few tradeoffs.
Sigma's latest 70-200mm F2.8 offering promises to blend solid build, reasonably light weight and impressive image quality into a relatively affordable package. See how it stacks up in our initial impressions.
The Sony a9 III is heralded as a revolutionary camera, but is all the hype warranted? DPReview's Richard Butler and Dale Baskin break down what's actually new and worth paying attention to.
What’s the best camera for around $2000? This price point gives you access to some of the most all-round capable cameras available. Excellent image quality, powerful autofocus and great looking video are the least you can expect. We've picked the models that really stand out.
DJI's Air 3 and Mini 4 Pro are two of the most popular drones on the market, but there are important differences between the two. In this article, we'll help figure out which of these two popular drones is right for you.
The Sony a7C II refreshes the compact full-frame with a 33MP sensor, the addition of a front control dial, a dedicated 'AI' processor, 10-bit 4K/60p video and more. It's a definite improvement, but it helps if you value its compact form.
Above $2500 cameras tend to become increasingly specialized, making it difficult to select a 'best' option. We case our eye over the options costing more than $2500 but less than $4000, to find the best all-rounder.
The iPhone 15 Pro allows users to capture 48MP photos in HEIF or JPEG format in addition to Raw files, while new lens coatings claim to cut down lens flare. How do the cameras in Apple's latest flagship look in everyday circumstances? Check out our gallery to find out.
Global shutters, that can read all their pixels at exactly the same moment have been the valued by videographers for some time, but this approach has benefits for photographers, too.
We had an opportunity to shoot a pre-production a9 III camera with global shutter following Sony's announcement this week. This gallery includes images captured with the new 300mm F2.8 GM OSS telephoto lens and some high-speed flash photos.
Comments