The USA was in the midst of the Depression when photographer Dorothea Lange began documenting its impact through depictions of the rural poor: her images triggered a pivotal public awareness of their plight. One day in Nipomo, California, Lange saw and approached a hungry and desperate mother. The woman's name was Florence Owens Thompson, and the result of their encounter was seven exposures, including Migrant Mother, which would become a landmark work in the history of documentary photography.