Plate 91 Broad-winged Hawk 

John James Audubon made this print of a Broad-winged Hawk, rendered in watercolor, gouache, and graphite, and then transferred to a printing plate. The final image was reproduced through a process called aquatint. Consider the labor involved in this print. First, the skilled work of creating the original image, capturing the hawk's form with scientific precision. Then, the translation of that image onto a copper plate, line by line. Finally, the labor of printing itself, an industrial process dependent on both skilled artisans and a complex system of distribution. Prints like these played a key role in the development of scientific knowledge and the popular understanding of the natural world. They bridged the gap between direct experience and mass communication. Audubon’s image is not just a picture of a hawk. It's a testament to the power of reproducible images to shape our understanding of the world, and a record of labor at a time of increasing industrialization.