History and photographic Narrative: The case of Dorothea Lange’s Migrant Mother

Abstract

Dorothea Lange was documentary photographer. By 1936, she made seven photos about family of migrant workers and the principal photo was called “Migrant Mother”. It became an icon of the times of the Great Depression. The purpose of this article is to discuss the production of historical knowledge from this series of images and experience of Florence Thompson, the woman who was photographed. Besides it, I’m going to discuss the photographic narrative and some of the Lange’s procedures in the light of history and the historian’s craft.