Migratory Cotton Picker, Eloy, Arizona
Dorothea Lange
American, 1895–1965
November 1940
A black-and-white gelatin silver print photograph that brings the viewer uncomfortably close to a migrant cotton picker to convey his dignity and fatigue.
What arrests you is the large, weathered hand held across the face—its creases and shadows dominating the frame while a tired, intense gaze peers over it, making the body’s labor and the man’s vulnerability immediately felt.
Part of Lange’s documentary practice, the image uses bold composition and intimacy to make the physical and social toll of migrant labor visible, shaping the vocabulary of socially engaged photography.
Medium
Gelatin silver print, printed 1965
Dimensions
19 15/16 × 23 13/16" (50.7 × 60.5 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Purchase
Accession
849.1968
Palette
Exhibitions
