This photograph by Dorothea Lange speaks a thousand words. It was take in February of 1963, during The Great Depression. The picture displays a family comprised of 3 young children and their 32-year old mother (Natanson). Although it is hard to distinguish the gender of the children, we still know they are a family. It is also noted that Lange had written down that this was a “mother of seven children” (By Depicting). Both of the children are looking down and away which gives the audience reason to question the family’s situation, and the mother seems to be contemplating something as she is looking off into the distance as well. The reason the photos were taken was because Lange had been put on an assignment for the Farm Security Administration, …show more content…
For example, people may think of sunshine and happiness when they see yellow. I think that the use of light is pretty uniform throughout, but if I were to pick the subject that sticks out the most to me, it would be the mother’s hand. It looks as if she has lost all sense of hope and has no idea how to provide for her family anymore. There is a slight gradation as the photo transitions from dark, to light, and back to dark. Again, the focus is on the mother who is supposed to be the provider for this family, but due to their circumstances, she is unable to do so efficiently. The juxtaposition in this photo also speaks volumes because the children are leaning on the mother because, once again, she is their support system. They may also be doing this to comfort the mother and let her know that she has their support in return, but the children may be discouraged and tired. The infant also plays an important role because it puts more pressure on the mother as she knows this infant cannot provide for itself whatsoever, so it may result in a longer period of poverty than
Wayne, transforms this painting into a three dimensional abstract piece of art. The focal point of the painting are the figures that look like letters and numbers that are in the front of the piece of art. This is where your eyes expend more time, also sometimes forgiving the background. The way the artist is trying to present this piece is showing happiness, excitement, and dreams. Happiness because he transmits with the bright colours. After probably 15 minutes on front of the painting I can feel that the artist tries to show his happiness, but in serene calm. The excitement that he presents with the letters, numbers and figures is a signal that he feels anxious about what the future is going to bring. Also in the way that the colors in the background are present he is showing that no matter how dark our day can be always will be light to
If looked at from a religious perspective light is symbolised as good and darkness as evil. I have incorporated that in my visual rep by the fragmentation of light and dark in the background. The face on the left has her lips painted black and disappearing into the background to convey that it really wasn’t appropriate for women to break out of the repressive and constrictive role of being nurturing mothers and the perfect housewives. If she was to comment on those roles, to admit to the isolation and frustration of being a mother out loud, it was considered wrong and sinful. Hence, why a lot of women took to mediums such as poetry or writing to have their voice be heard. The figures in my VR are bald because during the Holocaust the prisoners’ heads were shaved off to identify them as an inmate. The bald head is to symbolise imprisonment in terms of limited opportunities for women in the 50s and they were basically prisoners in their
One theme is two-way relationships that both pull parents and children together whilst pulling them apart. This is illustrated when the mother describes an “old rope, Tightening about my life”. This represents a submerged rope (representing the invisible forces of attraction between the mother and daughter) attached to a boat in a harbour (representing the mother and daughter). It may seem like the boat and harbour are free, but when they try to go their own ways, the rope tightens and pulls them back together. This is not the only theme that reveals the complexities of the parent-child relationship. Another theme is how parents can be torn when their children grow up. The mother seems to be happy that her child is growing up and becoming independent but also seems to resist it. This can be seen from the description of traffic lights. The cars “taking turn” could represent the mother and daughter going on their own paths. The traffic lights alternate between letting and not letting cars through. The lights mirror the sporadic emotions of the mother. It is like they can’t decide to let the girl go on her own independent way in
When economic disaster struck the country… Dorothea Lang knew that somehow she had to be a part of the fight to win better conditions for the poor…Lange had very strong feelings about social injustice and her feelings came through clearly in her photographs. Because she did not come to Washington until the next spring, Lange did not take part in those early, highly important discussions and critiques. Her work was done separately in the early days and primarily on the West Coast. Even so, Lange’s pictures spoke for her and had a tremendous influence on the formative period of historical section. ...
All imagery of light, sunlight, and springtime represent the character of Mattie. This is contrary to the imagery used to describe Zeena. In the prologue there are contrasting images of the goodness of light shed on something not as good. An example of this is the description of Ethan's house when the narrator states his observation of, "A flash of watery sunlight exposed the house on the slope above us in all its plaintive ugliness." This indicates how the inner beauty of Mattie, the sunlight, illuminates the aspects disliked in Zeena, the ugly house, which become evident later in the
Aside from the central image, the poet also uses a range of other images to enhance her concern. Images such as "sun" and "sk...
She shows the true culture of her family’s life and how they act. Artistically, this frame includes lots of detail and is realistic. Behind the doors and windows is a blank, only shaded area. The conversation between the two sides shows the ignorance of her parents. While the child looks angry and seems to have looked everywhere (with the draws being opened already). This shows that the family does have transparency and doesn’t constantly cover-up the truth.
Imagery of light is used in Fisher’s collection of poems to symbolize positive facets of a life lived in poverty. People living in poverty are not given all the basic necessities required to live comfortably. Many impoverished persons are malnourished due to lack of resources such as sufficient food or appropriate clothing. The lack of living essentials and the inability to afford everything that they desire provides people living in poverty with a greater appreciation for small acts of kindness. Many of the poems in Fishers collection show aspects of the poor being grateful for the little things in life. One of the poems shows a little girl being extremely appreciative of something every...
... portrayed real events and real people who were beautiful in their own way. "These pictures impress one as real life of a vast section of the American people," commented one viewer of FSA photos exhibited in an April 1938 show called "How American People Live." This statement summarized the feelings of most Americans who viewed the photos. Because of their success, these photographs have become the visual representation of the Great Depression.
When you put all these aspects put together with my interpretation of what is happening in the painting, a sense of calmness and security was constructed for me. No matter what this couple may be going through at the end of the day they still lean on each other for support. The complementary colors symbolized a sensation of strength between them, the balance of the composition created a stability characteristic, and the smooth and fluid brush strokes created a tranquil energy between the
On the prairies, Canadian farm women faced very specific challenges. In the article ““I like to Hoe My Own Row”: A Saskatchewan Farm Woman’s Notions about Work and Womanhood during the Great Depression,” Author Cristine Georgina Bye’s great-grandmother, Kate Graves’ specific challenges mainly consisted of keeping her family afloat despite her growing age while also balancing traditional feminine roles with the hard labour of farm work. Kate Graves’ “spent seventeen-hour days churning butter, raising chickens, tending children, cooking, cleaning, canning, sewing, and gardening” during a time when farming was nearly impossible due to droughts and the harsh economic conditions of the Depression. Graves’ family, like other’s in rural Saskatchewan, suffered losses during the thirties, as many families would put off medical procedures because of lack of funds. Graves’ lost her daughter to tuberculosis in 1933 and in total her region lost “22 percent of its farm population.” There is very little written about Canadian farm women during the Great Depression, but what there is written about these women showcases a particular strength and determination that can only be found in the rural lands of the
The photographers of the Farming Security Administration contributed to modern times both educationally and visually. Photographers like Russell Lee took photographs that not only captured the lives of those who suffered greatly with the Great Depression hovering over them, but also the emotions that these people felt. Russell Lee, like Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans found his opportunity to prosper during the Great Depression with his photographs that would document the average American life suffering the wrath of the Depression from either unemployment or lack of home or even both. ...
First, the scene in the image was manipulated through stage-managing, a common practice in photojournalism. While the image of the migrant mother, Florence Thompson, appears to the viewer to be a genuine and unprompted look at the hardship and deprivation of a dejected migrant woman. This, of course, was the reality of Ms. Thompson’s personal situation at the time. But the scene itself was micromanaged to appear in a lucid and vivid form in the image, including editing Ms. Thompson’s older children from the image to create the more poignant scene of a mother holding a small child and using a pose in which the woman is looking out into the distance, with the two children told to lo...
The saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” cannot be demonstrated more thoroughly than during The Great Depression, a time when there were not a lot of words to be said. The photograph of the “Migrant Mother,” taken in this time period, The Great Depression, has inspired me want to dig deeper into Dorothea Lange’s experience during that time period. When I first saw the photograph of the “Migrant Mother,” I could not get the image out of my head because it tugged at my heart and it is something I have wanted to learn more about since we discussed Dorothea Lange in class.
Planned Parenthood Federation of America, an organization founded by Margaret Sanger in 1916, receives $500 million in federal funding every year. Mission statement: A reason for being. Planned Parenthood is one of the nation's prominent providers of inexpensive health care for women, men, and young people, and the country’s biggest provider of sex education (“Planned Parenthood at a Glance,” 2014).