Untitled c. 20th century

This photograph, by Lewis Hine, captures a man at work, his hands engaged with a complex machine. The sepia tone infuses the scene with a sense of nostalgia. I get the sense that photography is, itself, a process of work. The textures in this image are so palpable. Look at the man’s weathered hands, in contrast to the cold, hard metal of the machine. The way the light catches the edges of the machine, creating sharp, defined lines, and the contrast with the soft focus of the man’s face, is particularly striking. There’s a clear contrast between the organic and the mechanical. The man’s hand almost seems to be swallowed by the machine, which relates to his wider project documenting the lives of laborers, and their relationship with industry. Hine’s work reminds me of some of the social realist painters of the early 20th century. Like them, he embraced ambiguity, and multiple interpretations rather than fixed meanings.