Merriam-Webster defines photography as the art, process, or job of taking pictures with a camera. Throughout history, just like the mankind, photography has evolved. From cave paintings, drawing, painting, to photography on aspect has remained unchanged throughout time, the human desire to capture and express life through such forms. Photography has allowed for artists to communicate and illustrate what is important to them, create emotions within the viewers in ways that words simply cannot and most importantly, preserve history. Not only does photography facilitate communication between cultures but it also has the power to influence public opinion through the presentation of emotionally provocative images.
In Visual Communication: Images
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One aspect of this chapter that may be considered thought provoking by the audience is the photograph Migrant Mother taken by photographer Dorothea Lange. In the photograph, Lange places Florence Thompson front and center illustrating the struggles and capturing the suffering of low income Americans during the great depression in the United States. In Visual Communication: Images with Messages the author Paul Martin Lester states, “Here in black and white is a real-life symbol for all parents struggling to survive and feed their families during the Great Depression and for all uncertain economic times”(2013 p. 272). He explains how this image is, in a way, timeless. Lange was able to capture a moment that would preserve history, and it did just that so well that such a powerful photo has been reproduced time and time again because of what it makes people feel and because it allows the audience to relate to Florence Thompson. Lester further explains, Migrant Mother is probably the world’s most reproduced photograph in the history of photography because it makes people care about this mother on a deep, personal level”(2013 p. 272) . While admiring the photograph, the audience cannot help but to put themselves in the shoes of this poor woman with her small