Mother and children on the road in Tulelake, Siskiyou County, California, September 1939 1939

Editor: This photograph, Dorothea Lange’s *Mother and children on the road in Tulelake, Siskiyou County, California, September 1939*, has such a stark, immediate feel. It really captures a sense of desperation, doesn’t it? What details stand out to you? Curator: The Karo syrup box is key. Lange is showing us the family's reliance on specific commodities. The very materials of their survival, down to the sugar source, become central to our understanding of their circumstances and the wider context of migrant labor during the Depression. Editor: So, it is less about the individuals in the photo and more about the material conditions that surround them? Curator: Precisely. The image invites us to consider the social and economic structures impacting these lives, framing the family's plight through their access to basic resources. It’s not just a portrait; it's a document of material culture and its impact. Editor: I hadn't considered the significance of the syrup box before. Thanks!