Untitled (Excavation) c. 1930

Ryah Ludins created this ‘Untitled (Excavation)’ print. Although undated, the work responds to the historical context of the Great Depression, a period when many artists turned their attention to the lives of working-class Americans. Here, Ludins captures a monumental construction scene, likely in New York, perhaps the building of the subway system. Yet the image is more than just a record. The workers, toiling in the earth, take on an almost heroic quality. The artist invites us to think about labor, class, and the human cost of progress. The print eschews traditional representations of power. Instead, it develops an alternative narrative that recognizes the dignity and resilience of ordinary people in the face of economic hardship. Ludins asks us to consider whose stories are told and whose are often overlooked.