Comments on: Migrant Mother

Migrant Mother

kirkaracha — Sat, 26 May 2007 13:51:17 -0800

Her name is Florence Owens Thompson. In March 1936, FSA photographer Dorothea Lange took a series of photos of a 32-year-old woman and her children in a pea pickers' camp outside Nipomo, California, including one of the most famous photos in American history. Mrs. Thompson talked about the photos in 1979. [more inside]

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Sat, 26 May 2007 13:51:27 -0800

I wish she [Lange] hadn't taken my picture. I can't get a penny out of it. She didn't ask my name. She said she wouldn't sell the pictures. She said she'd send me a copy. She never did.

Florence Thompson hated the photo, but it prompted authorities so send aid to the camp. That didn't help the Thompson's, since their car had broken down and they were waiting in the camp while her sons were fixing the car. Mrs. Thompson died in 1983. Her grandson has web site that tells her story. The Online Archive of California has an online collection of over 20,000 of Ms. Lange's photos.

By: zarah

zarah — Sat, 26 May 2007 14:14:43 -0800

Hmm, interesting! I had always suspected that it was a staged photo because the little girls' cute bobbed hairdos are so perfectly cut. Silly I guess, since a parent can get quite skilled at haircuts over time, nevertheless I always felt something didn't add up.

By: the Real Dan

the Real Dan — Sat, 26 May 2007 14:24:28 -0800

That particular photograph is in the public domain, and is obtainable from the US Govt. Nobody's making any money off of it. Get one yourself. Search for Dorothea Lange migrant mother.

By: zymurgy

zymurgy — Sat, 26 May 2007 14:31:50 -0800

Fantastic story, thanks for sharing it!

By: hodyoaten

hodyoaten — Sat, 26 May 2007 14:36:00 -0800

I don't understand why the photos of her and her daughters in later life are nearly impossible to find, but here's one obscure web page that has one. It really completes the story to see how she fared.

By: spitbull

spitbull — Sat, 26 May 2007 14:38:20 -0800

From hodyoaten's German site: "Florence and her family came through the Depression and worked their way into the middle class. Florence and most of her 10 kids settled around Modesto, California. Her children bought her a suburban tract house like that of daughter Norma Rydlewski, where this photograph was taken in 1979. But Florence didn't feel comfortable and moved back into mobile home. She literally wanted to have wheels under her. . . . . Florence died in the early 1980s."

By: fandango_matt

fandango_matt — Sat, 26 May 2007 14:38:57 -0800

posted by the Real Dan That particular photograph is in the public domain, and isobtainable from the US Govt. Nobody's making any money off of it. Get one yourself. Search for Dorothea Lange migrant mother. Yep, Dorothea Lange (along with Walker Evans and several other now-famous photographers) was working for the FSA when she took those pictures, so those images--and many other famous images--have always been available to the public through the Library of Congress.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Sat, 26 May 2007 16:07:23 -0800

Great post, thanks for sharing the article. In recent years, however, the FSA photographs have come under a growing criticism. Many view them as manipulative and condescending, to the point of assuming a "colonialistic" attitude toward their subjects Christ, I hate that kind of bullshit. It's one think to discuss the problematic aspects of this kind of photography (something Sontag did brilliantly), quite another to spew simplistic crap about colonialism. But hey, anything for tenure, amirite?

By: ms.jones

ms.jones — Sat, 26 May 2007 17:37:03 -0800

nice post.

By: maggiemaggie

maggiemaggie — Sat, 26 May 2007 17:40:48 -0800

Florence's story as told by her grandson is really interesting.

By: Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese

Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese — Sat, 26 May 2007 17:47:45 -0800

This is an excellent post, thanks.

By: hodyoaten

hodyoaten — Sat, 26 May 2007 18:31:03 -0800

spitbull - yeah, I found that interesting, too, when I stumbed across the article. Most people I know who had it hard during the Depression were apparently traumatized by it to one extent or another. My grandparents were always sticklers for not wasting any part of dinner (though the intentions were good, it led my grandfather to pack on the calories/weight).

By: longsleeves

longsleeves — Sat, 26 May 2007 19:14:06 -0800

Thanks for posting this and filling in some gaps.

By: jamesonandwater

jamesonandwater — Sat, 26 May 2007 19:28:17 -0800

Hey, very interesting links - great post.

By: dhartung

dhartung — Sat, 26 May 2007 22:01:27 -0800

The grandson's site is fascinating. The extent to which he wants to deny that his grandmother represented what Lange intended, and the extent to which he details the ways in which she in fact did. Sontag is right -- there's an objectification process in photography, and that's what they don't like. And of course whatever immediate help reached that camp because of the publicity, the life of the migrant farm worker really didn't change that much.

By: spacelux

spacelux — Mon, 28 May 2007 01:22:49 -0800

I really enjoyed reading the story behind the famous picture. Thanks!