National Art Education Association

Instructional Resources: Migrant Mother by Dorothea Lange

Author(s): Dorothea Lange and Carole Henry
Source: Art Education, Vol. 48, No. 3, The Broader Context (May, 1995), pp. 25-28+37-40
Published by: National Art Education Association
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Art Education

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INSTRUCTIONAL

MIGRANT
BY

DOROTHE

?s

Migrant Mother , Nipomo, California, 1936 by Dorothea Lange. Library of Congress, FSA Collection.

Migrant Mother 1, Nipomo, California, 1936 by Dorothea Lange. Library of Congress, FSA Collection.

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MIGRANT MOTHER
BY DOROTHEA LANGE
A P *pwr?r~c~n D lel~ rr;r'
MIGRANT MOTHER, 1936
She was drawn as if by "instinct,

did not know if they could ever leave.

not reason," had seen the sign,

She nursed the baby at her breast,

PEA PICKERS CAMP, had driven on,

revealed the madonna, lover, mother,

the road slick, but something

pale half-moon pressed against the head.

called her back. She had

The hungry lens looked equally upon

to turn around, to find the woman

the lantern, tin pie-pan, hacked pole

sitting on a box, huddled

that held the half tent up.

in a tarp open as if waiting

always for Dorothea Lange.

the milk of death. The older two

"I drove into that wet and soggy

leaned sadly on their mother,

The dirty baby lay as ifhe'd drunk

camp and parked my car

their clothing made ofgunnysacks

like a homing pigeon." She asked

no questions, moved in silence

or else the linen of Christ's shroud.

Dorothea took no names, and said no thanks,

with the lens. The woman told her

nor handed bread across,

she was thirty-two, had come

nor joked until those ancient children laughed.

from the Dust Bowl. "She and her children

But she put her ten eternal minutes in

had been living on frozen vegetables

and called it work, before the dark rain fell.

from the field and wild birds

the children caught." They had sold

David Ray, 1982

all that would buy food, their tires,

Migrant Motherby Dorothea Lange is an extremely

powerful photographic image consistently reprinted and
recognizable throughout the world. Lange photographed
the woman and her three children as part of her work for the

Farm Securities Administration during the depression years

of the 1930s. Under President Franklin Roosevelt's

leadership, various governmental agencies were

established to help the American people cope with largescale unemployment. The FSA sought to document the

his thoughts in written form. His writing is based on his

personal perception of the photograph and incorporates a

knowledge of the historical circumstances surrounding

Lange's photographic act.

First utilized as a lobbying tool, Migrant Mother has
survived as a photographic image. These instructional
resources will represent an attempt to discover, through
critical analysis supported by historical fact, the reasons for
this endurance. The endeavor has relevance for art

living conditions of thousands of farmworkers profoundly

educators today as we attempt to teach our students about

affected by the economic conditions of the times. Utilizing

works of art that have meaning to our culture. In today's

thousands of photographs by Lange and others, that

troubled economic times, with homelessness visible to all of

governmental agency successfully persuaded Congress to

us, Lange's photographic works continue to have something

legislate funding, improving the day-to-day existence of the

to say about the strength of humanity. Teachers reading this

many homeless people seeking work throughout the nation.

David Ray, a contemporary poet, was neither a

material need to adapt it to their own particular instructional

government employee nor a member of Congress. Forty-

middle or high school students but could easily be adapted

seven years after Lange photographed the woman, Ray was

so affected by the image that he was compelled to express

for younger children.

situations. The dialogue suggestions are designed for

ART EDUCATION / MAY 1995

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INSTRUCTIONAL

Migrant Mother, 1936

DOROTHEA LANGE, AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHER
National Library of Congress

PART ONE: FINDING MEANING AND RELEVANCE

then, through questions designed to encourage further

IN THE WORK

observation, lead your students through this stage.

Show the photograph to your students. Let them look at The woman and children fill the photographic frame. She
it silently for a moment. Then have them describe the workbecomes the center of a visual triangle with a small child

(see Feldman, 1977; and Anderson, 1993). Create an

standing at either side. No space is visible between the

atmosphere that is responsive to the students' comments. figures; the forms touch, overlap, and nestle against one

Arrange the class so that everyone can see the image.

Specify that you want the students only to identify those

things with which they could all agree and to hold

interpretive and judgmental statements until later in the

another. This strong compositional triangle is echoed by the

many angular forms found throughout the image. Most

obvious are those created by the bending elbows of both the

woman and the child hiding her face behind the woman's

discussion. Try to involve as many students as possible

left shoulder; a third triangle is then formed with the
throughout this stage by calling on individual students who
sleeping infant functioning as its base. The remaining child
may not be participating. Look closely at the image yourself
hides behind the soft angle of the woman's right shoulder.
before you begin.
The neckline of the woman's rough clothing, the lean, sharp
The black and white photographic image is that of a
quality of her facial features, and the lapel of the infant's
woman, two young children, and an infant. The woman is jacket all reinforce the angular nature of the composition.

seated, her elbow on her lap, her hand cupped under her

Light illuminates the woman's face. The light is not soft;

chin with only her fingertips touching her face, her gaze

its harshness accentuates the angularities found within the

empty. The two children stand on either side of the woman image. It falls as harshly on the children as on the woman;

with their backs turned and their faces covered, shielded by

even the infant does not escape its scrutiny. As the figures
her body. The infant lies sleeping in the woman's lap.
overlap and touch one another, shadows are created.
The woman looks outward; her brow is furrowed, her Triangular in form, these areas of darkness recede, giving

mouth is solemn, and her dark hair is pulled loosely away depth to the image and, by contrast, emphasizing the figures
from her face. She is wearing a rough textured garment; its and their relationship to each other.

sleeves are frayed. Part of a checkered shirt shows beneath

this garment and is loosely fastened at her breast. The

The woman's face is in sharp focus; every line and

blemish is clearly delineated. Behind her head, the

background is soft and blurred. The image begins to lose

The two older children also are wearing rough, soiled focus with her fingertips, and the infant's soiled face is
clothing. Their hair is uncombed. Their faces are not visible.
softened. The wooden support in the foreground is
One child rests her arms on the woman's shoulder and
completely blurred.

infant's face is dirty, and its overly large jacket is soiled.

nestles her face against them. The other child stands against Begin to have your students search for meaning within
the woman, hiding her face behind the woman's shoulder. the work. Encourage them to support their thoughts with
The rest of the figures' bodies are not included in the

visual evidence. Try to formulate questions that relate the

image. Very little of the surroundings is revealed; the

image in some way to their own lives. For example, you

background appears to be canvas, and part of a wooden

support is visible in the foreground.
Now, focus your students' attention on how the
photograph is composed; have them examine the work in

might ask the class where a photographer today might be

able to see and photograph someone like the woman in the

formulating an interpretation. Try to determine yourself

toward it. Make sure that the students support their

those compositional elements that are most significant;

responses. Remember that interpretations can vary

image. Have them discuss the reasons a photographer

would want to photograph people in poverty. Ask them

terms of the elements and principles of design. According whether
to
or not they think Lange was interested primarily in
Feldman and others, an analysis of the composition of a
the woman's poverty. Have them discuss why the children
work of art will provide clues that will be useful in
have their faces turned away from the camera rather than

MAY 1995 / ART EDUCATION

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Migrant Mother2, Nipomo, California, 1936 by Dorothea Lange. Library of Congress, FSA Collection.

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Migrant Mother 3, Nipomo, California,

1936 by Dorothea Lange.

Library of Congress, FSA Collection.

Migrant Mother 4, Nipomo, California,

1936 by Dorothea Lange.

Library of Congress, FSA Collection.

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depending on one's personal life experiences, but a more

universal interpretation may emerge. Your function as

of the image reveals the nature of the relationship. She must

care for them as well as herself. She feeds the infant from

teacher is to stimulate the discussion, to ask questions that

her breast, draining her own body of vital nutrients.

are open-ended, to provide positive feedback, and in doing

Satiated, the infant sleeps while the older children huddle

all of these things, to stimulate higher-level thinking. Look

against her. They, too, must be fed and clothed and

for possible interpretations and formulate several questions

protected from the weather. The woman's brow and eyes

directed toward discovering meaning before you begin

reveal her struggle to provide these essentials. There is

discussing the image with your students. Be open to

neither opportunity nor energy for anything else.

alternative interpretations that can be supported.

Your initial observation will inform you that life has been
difficult for the woman. Aged by both weather and

The light is direct and natural, originating in the

foreground, and reveals the wooden support and canvas

background of a tent-like structure. The woman and her

misfortune, she is a victim of intense poverty. The children,

children are under this shelter. It is a temporary shelter,

her children, lean against her body, drawing temporary

unable to withstand harsh, inclement weather, but the

security from her strength. She does not look at the

woman, huddled beneath it with her children, senses its

children, nor does she gently touch them, but the intimacy

permanence. Little hope remains for a different existence.

PART TWO: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Dorothea Lange came upon the woman after culminating

making six exposures, and then left without approaching
any of the other people stranded in the camp (Lange, 196
a month-long assignment as an FSA photographer. Lange
had been traveling alone, photographing the migrant Curtis, 1986).
workers of central California. It was a cold, wet winter, and
Dorothea Lange, writing 23 years later, recalled those ten
minutes as an experience that was both "vivid and wellshe was on her way home. Her camera was packed away,

remembered" (Lange, 1960). Professionally unable to

and the results of her work, rolls and rolls of undeveloped
film, were in a box beside her. Driving steadily throughignore
the the sign, Lange felt compelled to locate the camp.
rain, Lange's thoughts were of her family.

This deep commitment to her work and the subsequent

She first ignored a crudely lettered sign which read, intensity of her photographic experience resulted in an
image so strong that Roy Stryker, the director of the FSA at
"PEA PICKERS' CAMP." Keeping her foot on the
accelerator, she continued driving down the highway.that
Shetime, described the photograph as one that had the
did not want to stop; she had enough negatives for her potential to both excite and disturb the viewer. Words were
assignment, and she knew that the rain could cause
unnecessary, according to Stryker (Ohm, 1980), but
problems with her camera. After twenty miles of attempting
Lange's brief title reinforces the image.
to convince herself that she should drive on, Lange turned
By 1942, the FSA files, in Washington, D.C, held over
270,000 photographs (Ohm, 1980). The government
around, "following instinct, not reason" (Lange, 1960, p.
126). She drove back to the crude sign and followed it photographers
to the
had been encouraged by Stryker to strive for
aesthetic excellence as they recorded the social conditions
migrants' camp.

Dorothea Lange parked her car in the wet camp and,of the 1930s. It is this sense of excellence that is evident in
almost immediately, saw the woman. Lange asked no Lange's work.
The photograph known as Migrant Mother is actually the
questions and neither did the woman. She told Lange that
last of the six exposures Dorothea Lange made that day in
she was thirty-two and that she and the children had been
1936 (3 of the other 5 are reproduced here). As Lange
eating frozen vegetables from the nearby fields and birds
worked
the children caught. The pea crop was frozen, and there
wasinward toward her subjects, the children moved
closer
no work. The woman had just sold the tires from her car
to to their mother, resulting in a unity of composition
present in the other exposures.
buy food. Lange did not remember how she explained not
her
presence, but the woman seemed to sense that the
The human element of her work was extremely
photographs might help her. Lange worked for ten minutes,
important to Lange; she sensed a reciprocity between

ART EDUCATION / MAY 1995

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INSTRUCTIONAL

physical suffering combined with artistic excellence th

herself and the poverty-stricken mother. In an interview
makes this image so powerful. The human and aesthet
conducted a few years before her death in 1965, Lange

elements merge, and a photograph initially used to

spoke of the intimacy of her work:
You know there are moments such as these when timeremedy social injustice in the 1930s survives today as a

work
stands still and all you do is hold your breath and hope it
will of art. Your students can view Migrant Mother and

waitforyou. And you just hope you have enough time to relate
get it to the photograph purely on an emotional or on a

organized in afraction of a second on that tiny piece of aesthetic level. They can explore for themselves why th
think the image has endured as a work of art. By helping
sensitive film. Sometimes you have an inner sense that you
students
have encompassed the thing generally. You know then that
you understand the social context in which the

are not taking anything away from anyone, their privacy,image

their was created, we can also help them relate to it on

an historical level and, perhaps, draw meaning for their

own lives.
It is this sense of dignity and strength despite immense

dignity, their wholeness (Ohm, p. 24).

PART THREE: EXERCISES TO ENCOURAGE UNDERSTANDING

1. Divide the students into four groups and give each

chose one of the figures in the works and instruct them

group one of the photographs. Have each small group to write a brief narrative about that individual's life from
develop a scenario of what their reactions would be if the moment of the photographs on. Have them justify
their writing with references to what they observed in
they were photographers encountering that particular
scene. Have them consider whether or not they wouldthe work. Activities could be designed to lead to the
writing of poetry as well. Allow time for the narratives
make a photograph at that particular moment. Let
them discuss their reasoning and come to a general to be presented to the class.
consensus. Bring the class back together and have one
student from each group present their responses and
Carole Henty is an Associate Professor in Art Education,
show the particular image to the rest of the class.
The University of Georgia, Athens, Ga.
2. Discuss contemporary social problems with the class.
Have the students compile a list of problems common
to their community. Have them look through

NOTES

The famous image is of Florence Thompson and her daughters

magazines and newspapers for photographs that
Norma, Catherine, and Ruby. She also had three other children
document these conditions. Display all the images
when the photograph was made. Florence Thompson survived

collected, and have students decide which ones, if any,the depression and, eventually, raised 10 children. She died of
cancer in 1983. (Atlanta Journal and Constitution files)
they would classify as works of art. Make sure the
students support their decisions with reasoned

thought. See if any common characteristics emerge

REFERENCES
and summarize these for the group (see Lankford, Anderson, T. (1993). Defining and structuring art criticism for
1992, for suggestions for aesthetic discussions).
education. Studies in Art Education, 34(4), 199-208.

Curtis, C. (1986). Dorthea Lange, Migrant Mother, and the cult

of the Great Depression. WinterthurPortfolio, 21(1), 1-20.
other works of mothers and children such as works Feldman,
by
E. (1977). Becoming human through art. Englewood Cl
Mary Cassatt or Kathe Kollwitz. Have students discuss
NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
the style, emotional content, media, and function of Lange, D. (1960, February). The assignment I'll never forget
Migrant MotherPopular Photography, pp. 42,176.
each work. Ask the students what advantages and Lankford, L. (1992). Aesthetics: Issues and inquiry. Reston, VA:

3. Compare and contrast Migrant Mother, 1936 with

limitations photography has as an art form in

National Art Education Association.

Ohm, K B. (1980). Dorothea Lange and the documentary tradition.

New Orleans: Louisiana State University Press.
4. After thoroughly exploring the Migrant Mother series
Ray, D. (1982, October). Migrant Mother, 1936. The Atlantic
through observation and discussion, have the studentsMonthly, 250(4), p. 76.

comparison to the other media identified.

MAY 1995 / ART EDUCATION

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Migrant Mother 5, Nipomo, California, 1936 by Dorothea Lange. Library of Congress, FSA Collection.

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