Circular Curved Section Of The Machine example essay topic

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 1900's, 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 24.9 cm by 17.6 cm and the actually image is 24.2 cm 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 spanner. His back is arched, along side the curved of the machine, making it seem like a backbreaking tedious task. The vertical piece is taken at eye level, with a balanced composition. We can see this because there is not much void space, with the machine taking up much of the top of the picture, and the man at the bottom. There are also instances in the photo that have curved features to it, and they all curve in the same direction, the pipe at the top, the round circular section of the machine, and the man's back, making it balanced. The circular curved section of the machine also seems to frame the man doing his work.

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. The rule of thirds does seem to apply in some way, as the pipes on the top is a section, and the circle component of the machine is another, and thirdly the man himself, which may be a slight merge with the second section. The absence of large void spaces, making full use of the space makes the photo look balanced. The curves make it seem to follow a certain pattern, pleasing to the eyes. Many shades of greys are in this print, with many soft tones, especially the features of the machine.

The man has also a variety of tones, which can be seen as his muscle has a grey shade to it. But because he is standing closer to the light source, and his skin colour is white, there are more contrasted shades. The whiteness of his skin makes him stand out from the rest of the picture, which is what Hine wanted to focus on. The light source is infront of the machine, but is not a harsh flashlight, but rather a soft light, of which the machine and the man's body seem to reflect the radiance, giving the work a soft tone. We can tell the light is coming from the front of the machine and the man because of the white shades on the machine and the body, shadows on the left and right are not present, showing that the light was flashed straight on. Probably an artificial light source that bounces the light off the subjects was used.

Artificial lighting has been used, not a flash. We know this because the print does not have harsh contrasting colours like prints where flash is used have. The aperture might be around 4, as there doesn't seem o be much or any light coming from the surrounding areas apart from the artificial lighting. The shutter speed would be around 250, a standard shutter speed as the subject (the man) isn't doing any fast action movements, and the picture is depicting him with the spanner as a still photograph. So the shutter speed would not be that slow either, so it has to be somewhere in the middle.

And since the man is somewhat moving, the speed therefore has to be around 250. The filter would have to be around 2.5 to 3 because of the many variety of shades of grey seen here. The photo would be taken at slightly below eye level, so he might have bent his knees, and artificial lighting props may have been set up to give the picture a soft tone appearance. During the first thirty years of the 20th century, Hine caught pictures of the often-horrendous working and living conditions of the American working class at that time. "This image was originally included in a pictorial essay called "The Power makers" (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". 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. On personally thoughts, I interpret the print as a very symbolic and emotional one, relating to the shapes of the machine against the man, and the size of the man compared to the machine. I favour this work of Hines more than the others because of it's symbolic meaning, and also for it's practical side. The shades of grey are plentiful, and I especially like the lighting which creates the soft tone in the picture.