During the Great Depression, government photographer Dorothea Lange took this picture at
a migrant farmworkers' camp near Nipomo, California
. Lange's brief caption recorded her impressions of the family's plight: “Destitute pea pickers… a 32-year-old mother of seven children.”
What is the story behind the photo Migrant Mother?
The Real Story Behind the ‘Migrant Mother' in the Great Depression-Era Photo. … From the moment it first appeared in the pages of a San Francisco newspaper in March 1936, the image known as “Migrant Mother”
came to symbolize the hunger, poverty and hopelessness endured by so many Americans during
the Great Depression.
What camera did Migrant Mother take?
The picture in question is a portrait of Florence Owens Thompson with three kids taken in March of 1936 by Dorothea Lange with her
4×5 Graflex camera
. One of the key factors that made the photograph so iconic is when it was taken.
How did Dorothea Lange take Migrant Mother?
While touring the country on behalf of the agency, Lange came across a hungry and desperate mother and
took several pictures of her
, one of which would become known as Migrant Mother. Dorothea Lange believed the camera was an instrument of democracy. She tried to be open-minded and approached her subjects with respect.
What made the photo of the Migrant Mother so powerful?
The image of a worried but resilient mother was so powerful that
it prompted the government to send 20,000 pounds of food to relieve starvation in a migrant worker camp
. It may have also helped inspire John Steinbeck's literary classic The Grapes of Wrath.
How did Migrant Mother change the world?
Migrant Mother went on to
become the public face of the Dust Bowl migrants
; help win Lange a Guggenheim fellowship in 1941; adorn U.S. postage stamps; and inspire John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath (1939).
What was the purpose of Migrant Mother?
Dorothea Lange took this photograph in 1936, while employed by the U.S. government's Farm Security Administration (FSA) program, formed during the Great Depression
to raise awareness of and provide aid to impoverished farmers
.
Where is Migrant Mother now?
Florence died of “stroke, cancer and heart problems” at Scotts Valley, California, on September 16, 1983 at age 80. She was buried in
Lakewood Memorial Park
, in Hughson, California, and her gravestone reads: “FLORENCE LEONA THOMPSON Migrant Mother – A Legend of the Strength of American Motherhood.”
What are the 3 parts of a camera?
- Lens.
- Body.
- Sensor / Film.
Why did Dorothea Lange Take the famous Migrant Mother photo?
In 1936 Florence Thompson allowed Dorothea Lange to photograph her family
because she thought it might help the plight of the working poor
. … With her children cowering behind her for protection, hiding their faces, the Migrant Mother gazes distractedly into the distance.
What is Dorothea Lange's most famous picture?
Dorothea Lange was an American documentary photographer whose portraits of displaced farmers during the Great Depression greatly influenced later documentary and journalistic photography. Her most famous portrait is
Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California (1936)
.
How did the government response to migrant mother?
Ask students how they think Americans responded to it. They were outraged that this should happen in America; the federal
government responded by shipping thousands of pounds of food to feed the migrants
. noticing the details in the figures of the woman and the children.
What made the photo of the Migrant Mother so powerful quizlet?
What made the photo of the Migrant Mother so powerful?
It made people feel sympathy for the migrants.
Why do you think Migrant Mother was effective?
Why do you think “Migrant Mother” was effective in persuading people to support FDR's relief programs? Migrant Mother was so effective
because the images evoked emotional and depicted the emotions of the depression
.
What inference does Lange make about why the woman cooperated fully without asking any questions?
What inference does Lange make about why the woman cooperated fully without asking any questions?
She says that the woman did not ask any questions, but agreed to be photographed
. The photographer thinks that the woman cooperated because she thought this might help her with her plight.
What were migrant workers in the 1930s?
The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl (a period of drought that destroyed millions of acres of farmland) forced
white farmers
to sell their farms and become migrant workers who traveled from farm to farm to pick fruit and other crops at starvation wages.
