Electroplating – “The Human Factor” (Harvard’s Baker Library)
The role of techniques in society should not be reduced to that of utensils. Here is an odd illustration where actual ustensils meet aesthetics. Attributed to Margaret-Bourke White, the first female war photographer, this shot was taken at the International Silver Company. While the photography may be seen as an objective representation of industrial production in the 1930s, the forks here translate a movement and a liveliness that is almost animalish. Interesting enough, the “Human factor” is everywhere and nowhere to be found here.
This photography can be found, along with others depicting the industrial world in the 1930s, in the online exhibition The Human Factor, organized by Harvard’s Baker Library.
via Electroplating – The Human Factor – Baker Library | Bloomberg Center, Historical Collections.