Migrant Mother Migrant Gender: Reconsidering Dorthea Lange’s Iconic Portait of Maternity
Sally Stein
Mack Books
English
Softcover
125 pages
120 x 190 mm
2020
“I contend that in close comparison with Marian icons, the reason why this photograph continues to command attention is that it is not so simple or familiar a variant of the holy family imagery as it first appears.”
Sally Stein reconsiders Dorothea Lange’s iconic portrait of maternity and modern emblem of family values in light of Lange’s long-overlooked ‘Padonna’ pictures and proposes that ‘Migrant Mother’ should in fact be seen as a disruptive image of women’s conflictual relation to home, and the world. Stein is an American academic and cultural theorist living in Los Angeles. The interrelated topics she most often engages concern the multiple effects of documentary imagery, the politics of gender, and the status and meaning of black and white and color imagery on our perceptions, beliefs, even actions as consumers and citizens.
About the Author
Dr. Stein, Professor Emerita, UC Irvine, is an independent scholar based in Los Angeles who continues to research and write about 20thcentury photography in the U.S. and its relation to broader questions of culture and society. She has written about New Deal FSA photographers—particularly Dorothea Lange, Marion Post Wolcott, Jack Delano—as well as the contested image of FDR. Her numerous essays about popular mass media – Ladies Home Journal, Life and Look – extend her ongoing study of the various aspects of the rise of color photography. The interrelated topics she most often engages concern the multiple effects of documentary imagery, the politics of gender, and the status and meaning of black and white and color imagery on our perceptions, beliefs, even actions as consumers and citizens.
About the Publisher
MACK is an independent publisher of award-winning books on visual arts, working with the world’s leading artists, writers, curators and cultural institutions.
Established in London in 2010, our founder Michael Mack wanted to create a publishing house that connects new and established authors to a wider audience in beautifully designed editions. Rooted primarily in photography books, their publishing has expanded into art, literature and critical studies, working with some of the world’s most pioneering creative minds and institutions. Over this time, they have sought to build an extensive cultural programme, bringing our authors to audiences across the world in talks, workshops, fairs and signings.
From the beginning, MACK have held several core principles close to our heart: to make new, established and largely unavailable books accessible to everyone. Alongside maintaining their long-standing relationships with some of the worlds’ most established artists, they strive to bring long out-of-print books back into the market. They are also dedicated to supporting new and emerging voices in contemporary art, and our annual First Book Award gives artists anywhere in the world the opportunity to submit their work for publication, without any fees or referrals.
In the 10 years they have been around, MACK has come to represent an innovative and open-minded approach to publishing.
