Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #368314 in Books
• Published on: 1977-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 63 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780486234755
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Customer Reviews

Art 440 review
Men At Work by Lewis Hine is a beautiful collection of 69 photographic studies of men and machines originally published in 1932. This book is a great example of men controlling machines in order to benefit their lives, rather than the machines controlling their lives. Hine was able to find normal subjects and turn them into to amazing, interseting images. Through these photogrphs he catches the positive side of life which is very enjoyable to look at. There are also 18 extra photographs of the construction of the Empire State Building. Each page has a detailed description of the photographs to let the reader know exactly what he was shooting. The Empire Sate Building photos are quite amazing especially when you think about Hine himself that high off the ground taking these photos. In addition to the Empire State Building shots, are photographs of railroad workers and coal miners which no one had ever really recognized before. Overall this is a great book at an excellent price.

Men and their machines.
Lewis Hine had an affinity with the workingman. Jonathan Doherty, in the introduction to this book, says "Hine looked at workingmen with his camera and found a strength in them and a pride in their work that was common to all". He had a point because the photos show men controlling their machines and not the other way round, with these photos you can see craftsmen at work.

The sixty-nine excellent photos in the book (originally published in 1932) show forty-six taken during the construction of the Empire State Building and they are clearly not posed. Hine was given the assignment to cover the building work and so the photos have the raw energy of heavy work. The remaining twenty-three photos are much more formal studies of activity, lathe operators, engine drivers, coalminers, turbine engine grinders, welders and others are all creatively shown going about their work. I think these beautiful photos really show the respect Hine had for the working craftsmen.

Good (and inexpensive) as the book is I wish these photos could have been presented in a more formal setting, centred on each page with quality paper and printing to really do them justice.

Humblily!
It will be presumptuous to place my opinion next to all the worthy accolades this work has received.
It stands all by itself in the B&W pantheon, and even people not interested in art or photography can`t afford to miss this true classic.