Sunday, August 19, 2012

What is Starr's point of view, or perspective, on Dorothea Lange's compassion for others? Cite two or more details that show his perspective.

In Endangered Dreams, Kevin Starr presents Dorothea Lange as having great compassion for others. He supports this idea by discussing her now iconic 1936 photograph, which has become known as “Migrant Mother.” It is a photographic portrait of Florence Thompson, which Lange took in California while working for the Farm Security Administration. Her name was not known for decades, however. Overall, Starr finds compassion both in the photograph itself and in Lange’s interactions with Thompson.
Starr calls the portrait “astonishing,” far beyond an observation of a pea picker, which is what Thompson was doing for a living. Rather, for Starr, the portrait is a quintessential expression of motherhood: it speaks about “motherhood itself,” in part by capturing “every mother’s anguish.” The photograph’s staying power lies in its lack of sentimentality. The way Lange framed the subject, with the mother’s face clearly shown but not the children’s, draws in the viewer.
In addition, Starr discusses what Lange learned about Thompson. He quotes from Lange’s writings, in which she said she felt “‘drawn by a magnet’” to the “‘hungry and desperate mother.’” He speaks about their interactions, including details of her life that she shared with Lange, such as that they sometimes had to eat birds the children killed. A factor often cited that would detract from the interpretation of compassion is that Lange did not ask her name. Starr, however, gives the follow-up story: Lange told her editor that the photo mattered because the pea pickers were starving, which led to the federal government sending 20,000 pounds of emergency food.
https://books.google.com/books?id=7GvgN0y7yI4C&printsec=frontcover

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