Lewis Wickes Hine - Photo Analysis: “Powerhouse Mechanic”
Photographer and artist Lewis Wickes Hine, was born in 1874 in the town of Oshkosh, Wisconsin in America’s Midwest. Following the death of his father, he worked at a furniture factory to support the family and from here began to see the hardship and sufferings of working class Americans. In the early 1900s, Hine entered into a teacher’s training college in New York City, leading him into his photography career.The artwork in focus here is titled “Powerhouse Mechanic”, taken in 1921.The medium here is gelatin silver print and the measurements for the sheet is 24.9cm by 17.6cm and the actually image is 24.2cm by 17.cm. It now rests in the Cleveland Museum of Art in Ohio, America. Hine passed away in New York City in 1940 out of poverty in trying to continue his passion for photography and compassion for the suffering. A vertical portraiture, because the subject matter takes up most of the space, and not much of the background can be seen, except black, void space. The subject is made up of the young worker struggling against the huge machinery in the slight foreground, and takes up most of the space in the picture. Looking in his mid twenties, this young man is wrenching away manually at the machine with nothing but a
The atmosphere created by the picture is one of bleak and weary days of hard labor -- of dripping sweat, aching limbs and tedious muscle power. It shows subtle signs of uncertain future ahead. What is going to become of me when I grow old? Is this enough for bread on the table? We can see in the photo, that the man has his back curved, in an awkward position, alongside the other curves of the machine, the circle section of the machine also seems to frame him, or consume him? It seems that the artist was trying to convey a message that now machines control you. They make you bend your backs, and make you work long hard days for peanuts. Our gaze is led in a round motion, following the series of arches, leading to the body of the man. And with a longer stare, it seems to lead down to the spanner the man is using. “This image was originally included in a pictorial essay called "The Powermakers" (published in the December 1921 issue of The Survey), which focused on the bond between powerful and complex machines and the workers who tend them.”
Some topics in this essay:
York City,
America’s Midwest,
Wickes Hine,
,
America Hine,
soft tone,
section machine,
artificial lighting,
light source,
shutter speed,
speed 250,
shades grey,
light coming,
photo curved,
section machine frame,
machine man’s,
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Approximate Word count = 1052
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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