Wells’ essay Case Study: Migrant Mother, discusses the famous Dorothea Lange photograph titled, Migrant Mother. What I found most interesting about this passage was the discussion of a photograph transitioning into an icon. The last sentence on page 48 describes this process as the image’s “Reality being drained away until the image becomes an icon”. This stood out to me because it makes me question whether we are really considering the intent of an artist when we look at photography, or just giving our own meaning to the work until the original intent is so lost that even the artist themself forgets it. One point that led me to this thought process was when Wells related the image to Madonna and Child in Western art, because it seems unlikely that Lange intentionally envisioned this when she took the shot. It is simply another iconic image that immediately comes to ones mind when they see a mother and child in artwork.
The popularity and versatility of this image allows it to be used for numerous purposes, and each time seems to lose more and more of Lange’s touch as it becomes a vessel of new meaning. The essay also mentions how many Americans can identify this image but not its creator, which I feel is a sign that it is not about Dorothea’s vision but rather, the potential the image has on its own. It is interesting because it seems that when asked about the most iconic paintings and sculptures we are able to easily identify the names of the artists that created them, such as Van Gogh, or Picasso, or Michalagelo. So what is it about photography that we detach ourselves from the artist and focus purely on the content? The article argues that documentation is solely about content, but that clashes with the idea that documentation is also artwork and other elements are important as well. I find it strange how as a culture we latch onto one image even though when asked about it more deeply we have no real knowledge.
1 comment:
Morgan Kirol's Comment: I love how you explore the idea of the artist’s intent becoming lost in our own selfish interpretations. We often times pull pieces apart analyzing every single formal detail and contextual element, losing the instinct to simply stand back and think: How does this make me feel? What do I think the artist is trying to say by invoking these feelings? We become so overwhelmed by the massive amounts of art and media in our ever day lives that we seldom take this time to sit back and simply look. I also enjoy how you pointed to the fact that with every reproduction of this photo, we lose a little piece of the artist’s meaning behind the piece. Although I do not think it is always important to consider the artist’s actual meaning, I do believe it is important to take every piece for its inherent value. This isn’t just a simple photograph; this was a decade of our history that people forget to acknowledge with compassion.
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