Topic (Roughly):
How the documentary photographs of Dorothea Lange influenced the federal government to take action during the Great Depression. I will be discussing a few specific photographs, including those taken of the Japanese American internment camps (probably). Relates to art and action.
Primary Source:
Photograph "Migrant Mother," taken in 1936.
Thesis/Main Claim of Source:
The photograph is an effective portrayal of a desperate family at a camp during the Great Depression. It sends a message of despondency, and calls for change.
Evidence:
The worried, desperate expression of the mother's face, composition of the photo, information about the actual family portrayed. The woman is Florence Owens Thompson.
Purpose of Source:
To document the plight of migrant worker families during the Great Depression. To evoke emotion in the viewer.
Audience/My Own Purposes:
The audience was the general public. The photo was circulated widely, especially through newspapers. I will use it to analyze its effect on the American public and its status as an iconic photo of American history. I will also talk about how it may have influenced government policy.
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1 comment:
i think this is a really nice idea. i actually posted the image on the blog i had for last quarter, under the title "social realism" (vs. socialist realism, note the difference)... http://winterhumcoretrapp.blogspot.com/2008/02/realismist.html
it would help to give good consideration to the artistic style (maybe she wrote somewhere about her theories, etc? or was interviewed?) she is aiming for. i also think that tracking down some of the publication/printing history of the photograph would be helpful and interesting. including some of the lesser-known photos might also be a nice contrast. it's always nice to think about the work of artists that was not as well known. i'm also wondering if it's looking like there is some direct way to describe or measure the effect of her work on social policy? also, was she funded by the public works acts that came out of the great depression? i know that social realism, to a certain extent, was an artistic style that developed out of the work of artists who were hired by this public funding through new deal-related policies...
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