World Famous Image "Migrant Mother" by Dorothea Lange Was Retouched

World Famous Image "Migrant Mother" by Dorothea Lange Was Retouched

Dorothea Lange's photo called "Migrant Mother" is one of the most well known among photos that came out of the Dust Bowl era. The photo was taken by Lange in February or March of 1936 in Nipomo, California of a migrant mother and her children. It's always been one of my favorite photos. The fact that is was so well "photoshopped" so long ago was another amazing feat.

What most people don't know is that it had a mystery thumb that was edited out before being released publicly. I recently pointed this out to someone when were looking at the photo and they didn't believe me until I pointed at it in the picture. So I decided to post it just for fun. See if you can find the thumb in the final image you have most likely seen before.

Final Image:

Mystery Thumb Comparison! Old School Photo Editing

Original Unretouched Image:

In this original image, you can see the thumb clearly in the lower right hand corner. Its much more distracting, so it was nice they did edit it out long ago.

Next time you see this image, ask your friends to see if they can find the thumb in the image. At first glance most people won't notice it, until you find it and then you see if every time you look at the image.

Library of Congress: Dorothea Lange Archive Photo Collection
Wikipedia: Dorothea Lange

Posted by Ben at November 6, 2007 04:51 PM