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Item Structures of cultural memory: the photography of Tom Wright(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2022) Zignego, Jordan Robert; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Dennis AigThe photography of Tom Wright, archived at the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin, is both art and history. Wright captured many musicians on stage and off at some of the most pivotal moments in both their own careers and in the history of rock music. Although Wright played an integral part with various bands, and produced an amazing body of photographical work in a career that spanned from the 1960s to the 1980s, he has remained unknown. This dissertation argues that Wright belongs in the pantheon of rock photographers as a chronicler and artist; that Wright's photography, and the manner in which it was created, represent the turmoil and conflicts of his era (1960s-1980s) on which he had a specific Anglo-American take as a photographer born in America, but educated in England; that the so-called rock 'n roll life is embodied in Wright's life, including the concept of auto-destruction, that is a primary reason for Wright's lack of recognition; and Wright's relative obscurity is due in large part to his own refusal to work for any publications but to take photographs for their own sake. Wright's photography tells a more nuanced story of rock music. By altering the collectively accepted narrative, his photographs provide a sense of awakening for all and touch on shared memories and how society remembers. Wright's work ultimately offers a more inclusive perspective on how photographs affect both memory and accepted history.Item Documentary photography, climate crisis, and immigration: 'Migrant mother' as a lens to understand contemporary migrant stories(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2021) Leary, Courtney Lynne Burns; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Mary MurphyPhotographs are an important tool for understanding American culture and have the potential to influence public perception. Documentary photography specifically can often be used to enact social change and facilitate discourse about uncomfortable or difficult topics from both the past and present. Individual photographs can become defining symbols of entire periods of American history. Dorothea Lange's 'Migrant Mother' is one such example. The current research within the fields of History and American Studies regarding photography is mainly centered on how it can be used in museums and how it fits into our understanding of the past. However, it is also important to acknowledge how particular images have influenced our present understanding of America and how images can be used to facilitate conversations that will contribute to social change. As social media and mass media at large become more integrated into our daily lives and we, as consumers of media, become increasingly inundated with painful images the impact of documentary photography is changing. This first part of this thesis examines the history and tradition of documentary photography in America, including Dorothea Lange's contributions to the field and how 'Migrant Mother' impacted and continues to impact people's understanding of the Great Depression through that single photograph. Chapter Two focuses on the relationship between climate crisis and human migration patterns by examining the Dust Bowl era of the 1930s and the current climate crisis, with a focus on border communities. Chapter Three then examines modern examples of documentary photography to understand how today's documentary photographs impact American attitudes and the effect that America's current state of extreme political polarization has on the social power of particular photographs. Specifically, I analyze three examples: the picture taken of a drowned Syrian child migrant who was attempting to reach Greece in 2015, a photograph taken during the summer of 2019 of a migrant father and his young child drowned in the Rio Grande River after attempting to cross the border into the United States, and recent images taken during the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan in August of 2021.