Why this 148 year old photo matters today.

The photo you're looking at was taken in 1869 by Andrew J. Russel.
It's soberly titled "Joining of the rails at Promontory Point." Though I would have titled it, "One Hundred Guys About to Fight for a Bottle of Champagne"

I know, you're probably thinking, "what's so special about a group of guys that look like a ZZ top fan club and why does everyone look as happy as if they've just contracted dysentery." Hold on I'll get to that.

This photograph was taken on May 10th, 1869 in Promontory Summit Utah, on the day that the Central Pacific Railroad connected the eastern and western sections of the Pacific Railroad. It was captured by Andrew J. Russell, an American photographer who also photographed the American Civil War and the panoramic vistas of the American “West”. A man who somehow never managed to get anyone to smile on camera.

Russell recorded the railroad’s construction process from 1868 until its completion on the day this photo was taken. At first glance, this photo is just a recording of a historically significant moment, and it is, but there is a wrinkle. What Russel left out of the frame is just as important as what's in it.

Seriously, apparently smiling in a photo in the 19th century was punishable by death.

The visual principle behind the railroad photograph is convergence, unity, “coming together”. Russell composed the photograph and included key elements that express this idea visually. The photo is completely centered, vertically symmetrical, giving both sides of the frame equal weight and size within the frame. This gives visual relevance to both east and west, and by extension places equal importance on the efforts of the Central Pacific Company and the Union Pacific Company, the two main investors of the venture. Russell also lined up the men to create two perspective axes leading the eye and pointing directly to the center of the frame where he placed the key visual element.

Russell chose to place the contact point between the two sides of the frame at the center of the frame. It's where the chief engineers shake hands after driving in the last spike of the Pacific railway. Russell counterpoints the solemnity of the moment between the two engineers by adding the champagne bottle and the glass, slightly above the center.

By doing so the workers also converge and celebrate the achievement. At the same time, the locale and its remoteness are visually represented by the bushes placed in the foreground. Last, the two locomotives facing each other create a strong horizontal line that grounds the photo, lead the viewer towards the center of the image and provide context for the event. Meaning that even without knowledge of the particulars of the event the viewer can conclude from the visual content alone that the photograph depicts an event of significance, that it’s a celebration. And afterward, they had to ride the trains all the way back in reverse.

In The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction Walter Benjamin observes that photography was a key disruptive force on art and the representation of the world. With its arrival, art lost significance as a ritual object and it became a political instrument, one that can go with or against the status quo. In photography framing and composing are political choices in that through the selection of what is/isn’t in the frame the photographer can reinforce or subvert the political and social conventions of his/her time. There is power in the act of framing, especially in historically relevant moments such as the one depicted in Russell’s photograph.

If you take a closer look at the photograph you can quickly notice that there isn't a single non-white male, and you might think well, those were the people present at the time. However of the 15000 men worked in the construction of the first transcontinental railroad, 86% of them were Asian immigrants, the remaining 14% were a mix of African Americans, Italians, Irish, and Hispanics. It was one of the first truly multi ethnical achievements. But the photo that records the project's culminating moment does not include a single one. That is a political choice, one that visually leaves out of history a vast group of people who carried the largest share of the burden that made the achievement possible.

This begs the question why? In the years after the American Civil war one, of the dominating political philosophies in the United States was “Manifest Destiny” It focused on creating an American identity, bridging the gap between North and south. The result was a discourse that was white male-centric. It preached unity, progress and most of all the duty of the Union to expand west. At the same time, the U.S. was in the middle of several immigration waves from the Pacific and Europe, mostly people fleeing poverty and destitution.

Given the newly reunited country's need to create a single identity between the north and south states, immigrants were alienated and placed at the margins. Perhaps that is why Russell does not frame to include them. The photo is an expression of the political discourse of his time. That is why it is such an important photograph. It’s not only a historical record of an event but a visual representation of the “Manifest Destiny” policy, and an example of how photography can be used as an instrument of politics.

That's what makes this photo so significant, not only for its historical value and aesthetic achievements but more importantly because it demonstrates the power that framing and composition have on shaping memory and history.

But why is any of this relevant to us now, in a time of reality TV world leaders and juvenile dictators with crazy haircuts? It matters because it's a reminder of the power of framing. Our world view is molded by what we see and what we don't. The power of framing, of editing, is that it not only influences us but that it writes history for those to come. Selection, framing, they are something we exercise daily, in what we chose to see and not, in what we read, in what we watch and what we decide to leave out of the frame.

And if you're still wondering why everyone looks like they have dysentery, the answer is well they all did.

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References:
"The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction."
The railroad workers
"Manifest Destiny."
"Transcontinental Railroad."

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Thank you for reading and have a good one.