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FM
Migrant Mother Makeover
Status: April Fool's Joke
Technique of Fakery: Deleted Details.
Date and Time Period: April 2005 issue of Popular Photography; (2005-Present)
Themes: Digital Plastic Surgery, Humor, April Fool's Day, Striking a Pose
As an April Fool's Day joke, the editors of Popular Photography ran an article about how Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother" photo (bottom) could be saved.

Lange took the photo during the Great Depression. The mother in the scene is considered an iconic symbol of endurance and strength. But the editors of Popular Photography erased her wrinkles, softened her gaze, and removed her kids, transforming her into a smooth-faced soccer mom (top).

Their readers, not realizing the article was a spoof, were horrified. Hundreds wrote in to express outrage at the defacement of such a classic image.


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