ArtBreak: American Legacy: Lange's Portrait of a Mother

About this event

During this ArtBreak, Prof. Ginger Owen-Murakami will discuss one of the most influential documentary photographs ever created. Produced by Dorothea Lange during the Great Depression as part of Roy Stryker’s Farm Security Administration (FSA) photography project, Migrant Mother remains in the public domain of the United States Library of Congress. As one of the most widely reproduced images in American history, this photograph endures as a profound symbol of hardship, resilience, and collective memory, embodying the struggles and perseverance that shaped the American experience. Ginger Owen-Murakami is a Professor of Photography at Western Michigan University’s Gwen Frostic School of Art. She teaches a variety of classes in Fine Art Studies (History, Professional Practices, Traditional Darkroom, Digital & Alternative Processes). Owen-Murakami’s artwork derives imagery from narratives and themes of family history, race, gender, and culture. She has lectured, worked, and exhibited internationally. Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California, 1936, gelatin silver print. Collection of the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts; Gift of the Kalamazoo Photo Guild, 1966/7.85