For my third large scale, I am using Dorothea Lange’s famous photograph ‘Migrant Mother’ as my image. This time I am choosing a different tonal range than greyscales, as I feel it will get too repetitive if I continue with the greyscales. I will be incorporating Baldessari’s technique in to the two children. I will then be incorporating Anzeri’s technique into the Mother’s hair with the colours of the American flag.
History behind the Image
Lange’s best known picture is titled ‘Migrant Mother’. The woman in the photo is Florence Owens Thompson. In 1960, Lange spoke about her experience taking the photograph:
“I saw and approached the hungry and desperate mother, as if drawn by a magnet. I do not remember how I explained my presence or my camera to her but I do remember she asked me no questions. I made 5 exposures, working closer and closer from the same direction. I did not ask her name or her history. She told me her age, that she was 32. She said that they had been living on frozen vegetables from the surrounding fields, and birds that the children killed. She just sold tires from her car to buy food. There she sat in that lean-to tent with her children huddled around her.”
The impact of the picture was based on the image showing the strength and need of immigrant workers. “Migrant Mother’ has achieved near mythical status, symbolizing, if not defining, an entire era in United States history (The Depression Era). There are 4 more photos that Lange took that day. Thompson claimed that Lange promised that the photos would never be published but she had already sent them to the San Francisco news as well as the Resettlement Administration in Washington D.C. Therefore she had lied and blackmailed Thompson.
But within days, the pea-picker camp received 20,000 of food from the federal government. However Thompson and her family had moved away before the food arrived.
Florence Owens Thompson Montage / Dorothea Lange
Experimenting with Baldessari’s technique
For Baldessari’s technique, I will be using the childrens bodies to incorporate it. According to the size of each boy, I judged the boy on the right to be older age-wise therefore I will use a darker tone of brown. I am choosing brown as this image was taken in a deserted desert where the sand is brown. Brown is also associated with being the hue of the earth and also supplies feeling of wholesomeness which could relate to the migrant mothers relationship with her children. Overall, I feel as though the two hues reflect well off each other although the structure of the children needs to remain otherwise observers will be confused about what they are actually looking at.
Experimenting Anzeri’s technique
For Anzeri’s technique, I have chosen to incorporate the three colours of the American flag; Blue, White and Red in to the hair of the mother. There is not going to be anything covered on the face this time as I felt it took away from the depth of the overall composition. I have tried to create a sense of wave within the hair in order to make it look realistic. From the start of the hair parting, I am incorporating the blue and white part of the flag. Overall, I feel as though the outcome is excellent and will convey well on a large scale.
Analysing the Outcome
I started to paint the facial features first in order to build up the rest of the image. I used medium brush strokes with a flat brush in order to create a base which I could then work with. I started with dark hues and then started to define and create depth with lighter hues. I feel by creating a fine line defining the eyes, it intensifies the overall composition of my large scale. Next, I progressed on to painting the woman’s shirt with dark fuchsia hues with hints of the purple hues that I used with the face.
After I had finished painting, I progressed on to the embroidery starting with the different parts of her hair using the colours of the American flag; Red, Blue and White. With the right side of her head, I used stars in order to really capture the feeling of the American culture. The shine from the threads creates a rich composition relating back to the contrast.
Final Piece
maryamsheikh 