A photograph that made me think – Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother

I chose this photograph as I felt it expressed such emotion, sadness and concern instantly. The woman is centered facing the front and the two children either side with their heads turned away. This puts the attention and focus straight away on her and looking at her expression makes you feel her sadness and you want to know what has happened to her and her children by asking yourself questions.

The two children are cuddled into their mother with their heads turned in, this body language makes you understand they are scared and they are fully dependant on her. This mother and child relationship highly impacts how you feel for them as they look in danger and you want them to be safe. There is also a clear absence of the father which puts more pressure on the mother and again makes you feel sorry for her. Their clothes look ragged and unwashed which makes you think they have been involved in a horrible cause or are poor and desperate. The black and white tone to this photograph adds to the glum feeling, it also creates a sense that is was in an older time period.

Fiona Warburton

L1 Photography, University of the West of England