click page on right, drag-left and release below to turn pages …………………………..enlarge book
Dorothea Lange’s photograph of Florence Thompson and her children made in 1936 may be the most famous photograph ever taken. Known simply as the “Migrant Mother” the photograph was made during a month long assignment traveling through migrant camps in California, photographing for Roy Stryker and the Resettlement Agency.
What is not as well is that Lange and Stryker argued over how to distribute her pictures. Lange wanted to offer her work to Life Magazine directly, while Stryker wanted to give the magazine images taken from all over the nation by agency photographers. Ultimately both Lange and Stryker gave Life sets of images, and in the end the magazine used only one image taken by Lange, not the image that later came to be known as “migrant mother,” but a more defiant picture of a farmer that was given a positive spin, calling him a “new pioneer.” Even that photograph was not credited to Lange, but to the Farm Security Administration, and she lamented later that what she had documented was a “condition” and that Life Magazine was interested in news. The image had appeared in local papers all over the country and as is the case with many iconic images eventually became ingrained in the public’s memory.
In Rodrigo Cruz’s image of a Honduran transient riding the Mexican trains to the US I see a bit of Dorothea Lange. Not just in the uneasy look away, but in Cruz’ concern for the plight of a man that he has no connection to, aside from his compassion for another human being. And just as no one at Life wanted to see Dorothea’s documentation of the suffering of displaced people, few want to learn more about people called “illegal immigrants,” men and women who have been displaced from their homes by a need to sustain themselves and their families, an idea that is not that far from the life of Florence Thompson.
In much of the world men and women remain economic refugees, whether they be in Israel, South Africa, Russia, China, Bengladesh, or in the United States. With an growing world population and an increased competition for limited resources, the exploitation will inevitably increase, just as the backlash against them will become more severe.
What a fabulous issue, I loved the essay about Bangladesh. I just signed up for your mailing list, please keep me updated on future issues.
Fabio Giancarlo — July 5, 2009
The page turn thing is much better than the older method….thanks. And yes, great issue
Thomas Sullivan — July 6, 2009
Is there a way to order a print copy of this issue?
zaida.riquelme — July 6, 2009
Not at this time zaida, but perhaps sometime in the future we can find a way to do this….
Andy — July 6, 2009
great issue. are there any captions available to read along side the photos?
geoff — July 6, 2009
Geoff, I need to find a good way of including captions….the prenise of the magazine is that the pictures need to carry the stories, much in the way they did in Life Magazine. I tried to include more captions in the first designs of this issue, but the words were breaking up the flow of the images, more than they would have in a print issue. I am going to play with the format and see if I can incorporate some captioning into the next issue.
Andy — July 6, 2009
An impressive and troubleing edition. Thank you for showing this work.
Jackson Couse — July 6, 2009
nice magazine, thanks for sharing this issues. keep me posted.
George V. Cabig — July 7, 2009
A great and important Issue… hope to see this magazin soon also in an printed Version. And keep up the good work..
Greetings from Hamburg/Germany
Benjamin Hiller
Benjamin Hiller — July 7, 2009
Great magazine! I’d love to have a print cope when it’s available
borismod — July 7, 2009
Great work. I like the new layout too.
D
Dominic Bracco II — July 7, 2009
Thanks all, great to hear that people like the new page flipping theme, which we are going to improve on for the next issue, larger size, captions…..as far as a printed version, its beyond the scope of the project right now. 100Eyes is an on-line publication and committed to expanding the uses of documentary photography (using that term in a very broad sense) by bringing photographers together to work on projects of social significance.
Andy — July 7, 2009
What a marvelous issue. The photographs are so beautiful and captured the mood of the theme perfectly.
Brilliant work!
Gregory — July 7, 2009
thanks.
Stefan — July 10, 2009
Andy,
A great and important issue. Excellent photography.
Arnold Zann — July 17, 2009
Thanks all, and the statistics have been really impressive, on track for 15,000 individual visits this month!
Andy — July 18, 2009
Very impressive photos, but they leave me wanting to know much more about the history and current social conditions that cause the suffering that your photographers show. Wouldn’t a few more words (and, from some of your photographers, any words at all) be in order?
John — July 20, 2009
drop by, nice blog.
Kate — July 23, 2009
Great issue! Very powerful photos.
Please let me know if you were to publish a print (or pdf) version.
Thanks
Luis — July 26, 2009
Powerful collection of work Andy. I like the flip book as well. Perhaps captions could be seen by hovering over the photo or by a small button on the left hand side of the pictures?
Is there any call for entries on future issues? Thanks!
Jacquelyn Martin — July 28, 2009
Hi Jacquelyn, thanks for stopping by for a look….I am going to try to implement captions on hover for the next issue, or maybe a clickable area? Lets give that a shot. As far as a call for entries, I am proactive as far as finding stories for 100Eyes, but because the issues are thematic, I have trouble fitting in essays that deserve to be seen, but don’t fit the theme, so the best way is to have a unique theme that might warrent bringing in supporting work. This particular issue came about because Massimiliano showed me his migrants piece and I liked the idea and went out and put together the remainder….so the answer is, yes and no?
Andy — July 28, 2009
Incredible issue Andy. Brave work by all the featured photographers. My heart and gratitude goes to James Oatway. I am grateful to all who continue to fight against zenophibia as well as battle to end the violence of poverty. Thank you!
Lori Waselchuk — August 2, 2009
Thanks to all who were read July issue.I Think Comments is a very good tips for photographer`s Journey.
Next Issue of 100eyes is about on Bangladesh.I invite to all of viewers to see Next Issue & I hope you will enjoy to see some different works.
Thanks
Mohammad Rashed Kibria Palash — August 3, 2009
Incredible. Engrossing and very thoughtful.
Prabhat — August 10, 2009