International Symposium

THE FAMILY OF MAN, DOROTHEA LANGE’S

“MIGRANT MOTHER,” AND 1930s DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY

When Dorothea Lange, in 1936 — 90 years ago — photographed Florence Owens Thompson, a Native American pea-picking migrant mother and her children in Nipomo, California, she could not have foreseen that the resulting image would become one of the most influential icons of twentieth-century American culture. Nor could she have imagined that, some fifteen years later, she would collaborate with Edward Steichen, the colleague and curator who was among the first to recognize and support her work, on his landmark installation The Family of Man (1955) — a work equally celebrated and contested, now central to the history of modern photography.

As an established international photographer and exhibition designer, Steichen played a decisive role in promoting Lange’s work. His recognition of her “White Angel Breadline” (1932) and “Migrant Mother” (1936) in U.S. Camera Annual (1935, 1936) introduced her to a national art audience and positioned documentary photography within a broader artistic discourse. Their professional exchange marked the beginning of a shared visual ethic and lifelong friendship. Within the ongoing exploration of the impact of Steichen’s The Family of Man, the CNA International Symposium 2026 will reassess the manifold facets of the contexts and collaborations shared by Edward Steichen and Dorothea Lange. The symposium will address a range of interconnected issues — then and now — spanning the depiction of poverty and migration, the role of human rights and civic engagement, and the critical assessment of 1930s New Deal politics, documentary aesthetics, and avant-garde curatorial practices.