Dorothea Lange.
Taken in the context of the great depression. This photograph creates a narrative with its use of actors and positions. The narrative of this photograph shows the anxiety and struggle of the women with her tired and worn out children all resting and snuggling up to their mother for warmth and comfort. The mother is torn between emotions fighting to stay strong for her children yet the fear on her face and the pain in her eyes show the stress she is going through. The position of her hand shows how she is trying to support and keep her head up while thinking of how to survive. The fingers dragging her cheeks down and shows how lost she is in life. How she is contemplating what to do next. Her eyes drift to indirect mode of address looking to the left of the photograph, this shows that she is looking back at life in sorrow and sadness. The kids are looking away turning their heads and hiding in shame. This allows the mother to be the main focus of the image, she is the key signifier and our attention is drawn to her.
The mood of this work is sorrow and sadness. The sorrow of the women’s position, the duty of care this mother has for his three children. Sadness of the family how they seek their mother for guidance and help of what to do, for instruction. Putting the mother in a great depression of her own the weight of not knowing what to do. The sadness and pain of having her children cry and be lost and upset but having no way of helping them been lost for words of hope is enough to make any parent die a little inside. The depression of the photograph is shown that reflects the emotions of the great depression.
The Narrative is further backed up with the use of the characters clothes the gritty texture of the clothes with its rough design with creases and baggy ripped clothes and long ruffled hair. This shows the narrative as you can visually see the struggle and time they have spent in hardship. He has used visual elements of tone to show the dark shades and shadows on the characters bodies. The background is dark meaning they have come from darkness, they live in darkness and they are surrounded by darkness. He has used vantage points to take the photograph from eye level of the women this allows us to be on her level. He has used framing to help focus the photograph on the women while just allowing her children in but keeping everything else out. This will allow all the attention to be on the women possible meaning that they have nothing else. The Rule of Odd and Even can be used here as the three Characters in the centre frame to create an idea of symmetry with a child on each side. Including the fourth in her hand. This shows her surrounded by the pressure of been a mother. The rule of triangles can be seen with the fold of the mother and child’s arms. Forming support and a stable composition. This can show some signs of simplification as the women and her children are the only factors in the frame creating that simple photograph.Dorothea Lange uses the texture of the womens clothes and skin to create mood and portray narrative in this photograph. She uses the absence of colour to create a emotional photograph portraying the narrative of the emotion of this photograph.
