M'Elheny Farm and Bennihoof Run c. 1870s

Curator: This is a fascinating gelatin-silver print titled "M'Elheny Farm and Bennihoof Run," dating back to the 1870s and credited to Thomas H. Johnson. Editor: Stark, isn't it? The lack of color certainly emphasizes the skeletal forms of those wooden structures...oil derricks, I presume? Curator: Precisely. The photograph presents a landscape transformed by early industrial activity. It captures the M'Elheny Farm alongside the Bennihoof Run creek during the oil boom era. Editor: What strikes me is the tension created between the natural slope of the hill and the rigid geometry of the derricks. The bare trees enhance that skeletal quality. Curator: Absolutely. Considering its time, this is more than just documentation. It provides a window into the labor and material conditions of oil production, focusing our attention on its impact on both land and people. It serves as a stark depiction of extraction and the resources involved. Editor: Yet the composition has a strange beauty. Note how the light reflects on the water, contrasting with the solidity of the land. It feels like a somber realism, meticulously framed. Curator: Perhaps Johnson was making a quiet statement about man's relationship to nature? The derricks appear to disrupt the landscape's organic form. I am more intrigued by how the site would have been seen by workers and the community, with photography as one of the only ways that this transformation can be appreciated. Editor: I am particularly interested in how the artist managed to portray texture with the limited tones afforded by this type of photographic printing, especially for those trees. Curator: An amazing balance! To summarize, “M'Elheny Farm and Bennihoof Run” is a historical photograph, that showcases an important era of social, material, and natural transformation. Editor: A powerful visual study, composed in light and shadow, where shapes narrate their story and expose this narrative of transformation.