My Favorite Picture

Jimmy Chen

Journal 4

English D394 (Prof. Scanlan)

September 28th, 2015

My Favorite Picture

The picture that caught my attention the most would be “Riveters attaching a beam,”, taken by Lewis Wickes Hine in 1931. The imagery displayed shows the construction of The Empire State Building, and in that, a simpler time. The image depicts a time where guidelines and policies weren’t too prominent, especially in the thirties where World War Two was about to unfold a few years later. Compared to today, where there are tons of rules and regulations concerning everything, the image also shows a sort of lax work environment. From what the picture depicts, it looks like the workers aren’t in a rush to get things done, they’re just sort of doing their own thing. This is shown by two of the workers attaching the beam to the infrastructure, while one of them is holding a bucket for whatever reason, and the other worker on the left just looking. Note that there are no safety helmets or vests, large power tools and a sort of gritty atmosphere. Rather, the workers are dressed in overalls and short sleeved shirts, no harness or (from what is presumed) service elevator to take them to the floor they’re working on. If there was a word to sum up this picture, it would be lax.

Flash forward to 2015, things are tense as current events prove a troubling time for society. With the instance of 9/11 happening, the state of pressure on people has increased, with the bomb scares and social movements. Back in the thirties, such a thing was improbable to even conjure, as men, women and children each had their place in society and did their part to their fullest extent. Albeit, there were social stigmas that society of present time look down upon, the culture in the thirties weren’t all over the place, an example being the silly notions of  “checking one’s privilege”. The image presented reflects a past where it was a simpler time, a time of freedom and a tad less in responsibility. A time that illustrates no worry and pacing oneself in work and in life.