ABSTRACT
The author was one of the most significant photographers to document the economic and social crisis in rural America in the 1930's. She came to prominence for her photographic work for the Farm Security Administration. Her 1936 portrait of a migrant agricultural worker with her children has become an icon of modern photography. Photographers are rarely called upon to describe the events which lead up to the making of specific images, and her recollections make a valuable contribition to the understanding of the practice of photography, and of its meaning. When the author thinking of her most memorable assignments, instantly there flashed to mind the experience surrounding ‘Migrant Mother,’ an experience so vivid and well remembered that she will attempt to pass it on to the people. ‘Migrant Mother’ was made in March, 1936, when she was on the team of Farm Security Administration photographers.
