Jump to content

Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/Power house mechanic working on steam pump

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lewis Hine's Power house mechanic working on steam pump (1920), an iconic depiction of industrial work and masculinity
File:Lewis Hine Power house mechanic working on steam pump edit.jpg
Edit 1 by Fir0002, cleaned, downsampled, slight sharpening/contrast

This is an iconic Lewis Hine photograph from 1920, created for the Works Progress Administration. It appears in the articles Lewis Hine, Masculinity, Survey Graphic, and Mechanic. I added the following caption:

Lewis Hine's 1920 Power house mechanic working on steam pump, one of his "work portraits", shows a working class American in an industrial setting. The carefully posed subject, a young man with wrench in hand, is hunched over, surrounded by the machinery that defines his job. But while constrained by the machinery (almost a metal womb), the man is straining against it—muscles taut, with a determined look—in an iconic representation of masculinity.

Yea, I had realized the WPA association was wrong (it's just in the WPA archives); that's no longer in the Commons caption. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out where it was published. Not in the Survey Graphic, which started in 1921; probably The Survey, but I have found no evidence.--ragesoss 21:38, 8 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I suppose I don't have any good arguments for keeping the caption except that I find analytical captions very helpful, and the photographer's original intent is not the final word on how images are read by viewers. If someone wants to change the caption, be my guest.--ragesoss 21:38, 8 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Only one comment on the edit? I'll have to move this to the 'further input' section. Raven4x4x 05:16, 17 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Promoted Image:Lewis Hine Power house mechanic working on steam pump.jpg Raven4x4x 01:42, 28 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]