Case Study: Migrant Mother

As an image that has saturated the media with its reproduction since its creation, Migrant Mother has been subject to many contextualizations. What I find interesting is the wide range of conclusions drawn about the image as a result of its changes in context. While the photograph is now considered undeniably iconic, its meaning has been understood to symbolize a variety of concepts.

In a gallery setting, the image is judged by its formal constructs and its relation to art history. However, these aspects are more often considered in the scope of a psychoanalytical assessment. With a woman as central subject, preconceived notions of femininity play a role in the photograph's interpretation. 

For many, this is an image that has become representational of motherhood. This is a logical explanation as result of its title. In this case, it is easy to focus on the apparent interaction between the mother and her children, and the implications of her stoic expression. Little else is apparent as a result of the elimination of most of the surroundings.

However, understood within its context as a photograph taken for the FSA during the Depression, it can be interpreted as the embodiment of hardship. In this context, the mother's role becomes woman exposed to poverty, with which viewers can sympathize as she struggles to support her children. In this way Migrant Mother has become iconic of the Great Depression.

Throughout the career of this photograph, the part that I found most interesting was that the woman, Florence Thompson, did not directly benefited from being its subject. Lange stated that she thought Thompson participated willingly because she knew the photo would help her. In actuality, she never saw a penny from its success. So, in a way, the meaning the photograph is iconic for exists more in the photograph than in real life.

Haley Taylor