A Response to the Migrant Mother Case Study (Kasia Thomas)

I think that our last class discussion, regarding the morals and ethics of documentary photography, really resounded in this reading, as many of us already mentioned. Documentary photography, as stated in class, is "a depiction of the real world to communicate something is important and to make a comment for the viewer to understand". So, at what and who's expense should we be making this comment? How far should a photographer go to get his or her message across?

I find Dorothea Lange's general disinterest in her subjects on a personal level quite curious. On the one hand, Dorothea Lange's goal was to convey to Congress the widespread effects of the Depression. This would require harrowing yet obvious images of the turmoil across the country. Her goal was to provide these images to urge Congress to provide government programs and welfare to aim these people. Her purpose was beyond herself, and beyond the people she photographed, who, in turn, would reap the benefits of her work. I believe she was looking at the implications of her work as a whole. She was not looking for a sobs story because every story during this time was a sob story. She was looking for images to convey the collective sob stories of Americans.

However, I thought to myself when do subjects become objects? Can a person become a still life -- arranged by a photographer, carefully, in order to create a pleasing, thoughtful image? I felt that the lack of empathy between Lange and her subject both disheartening and dehumanizing. Lange took away all the woman had left -- her identity -- for Lange herself to make money off of it (in the way that this was her job). The story behind this image seemed almost exploitative to me.

In the end, I feel myself understanding Lange's work better (and with less anger) when I look at it in a broad context. It didn't matter who Florence was or what she did because she was an image of ALL the mothers struggling during the Depression -- not just one woman. I think that broad symbolism was an appropriate way to convey the hardships of Depression-era Americans, as it provided a platform for empathy and understanding.