Worker at carbon black plant, Sunray, Texas (LOC)
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Where: Unknown
Try to find the spot where the photographer was standing.
When: 01 January 1939
Try to find the date or year when this image was made.
Vachon, John,, 1914-1975,, photographer.
Worker at carbon black plant, Sunray, Texas
1942
1 transparency : color.
Notes:
Title from FSA or OWI agency caption.
Transfer from U.S. Office of War Information, 1944.
Subjects:
World War, 1939-1945
Industry
United States--Texas--Sunray
Format: Transparencies--Color
Rights Info: No known restrictions on publication.
Repository: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Part Of: Farm Security Administration - Office of War Information Collection 12002-59 (DLC) 93845501
General information about the FSA/OWI Color Photographs is available at hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.fsac
Higher resolution image is available (Persistent URL): hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsac.1a35446
Call Number: LC-USW36-842
Source: Flickr Commons
Views: 233796
Worker at carbon black plant, Sunray, Texas
1942
1 transparency : color.
Notes:
Title from FSA or OWI agency caption.
Transfer from U.S. Office of War Information, 1944.
Subjects:
World War, 1939-1945
Industry
United States--Texas--Sunray
Format: Transparencies--Color
Rights Info: No known restrictions on publication.
Repository: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Part Of: Farm Security Administration - Office of War Information Collection 12002-59 (DLC) 93845501
General information about the FSA/OWI Color Photographs is available at hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.fsac
Higher resolution image is available (Persistent URL): hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsac.1a35446
Call Number: LC-USW36-842
Info:
Owner: The Library of CongressSource: Flickr Commons
Views: 233796
libraryofcongress
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1942
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這就是藝術！！
hydrogensulfide
sourgas
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dflora_pix
This is a very powerful image that makes me want to know more about his story. He looks a bit like a ghost. I wonder how long he lived.
CoreBurn
You can read about Carbon Black here: carbon-black.org/what_is.html en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_black www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/CC/doc1.html
gentk
o.o Wow... speechless.
sean.seanie
Stark
bi711247
Awesome
buttersweet
excellent
nolando
classic american image
knowing angle
Ugh ... imagine what this poor guy's lungs looked like.
Dan Bailiff
*cough* I got the black lung, Pop! *cough*
RoninVision
Wow. Intense.
Tim Young Photography
One of the most captivating and inspiring photographs I've ever seen. Absolutely exceptional and truly haunting.
Shannon Dagher
WOW. Incredibly powerful; such incredible detail! -- Seen in your 1930s-40s in Color set. (?)
roderickbodine
The man looks partially decomposed.
Rob Scumaci
Excellent image.
Deb Ebbeling
Gosh - this photograph is one of the finest portraits I've ever seen - no words needed....
RobandSheila
fascinating!
The Queen of No
this is what all portraits should try to attain
stupendous beginner
Haunting photograph.
Maria-Cristina
What a great shot
yourFAVORITEmartian
Something tells me his lungs didn't come out looking so well after this kind of work.
dylan_rupert
this is heartbreaking.
Mario Profili
something about John Vachon here: www.answers.com/topic/john-vachon
thoughtfactory
It is lovely to see the work of John Vachon. I'm delighted by the initiative shown by the Library of Congress.
die andrea
wonderful!!!
theween42
What a powerful and moving and curious photo.
Stealthman_1
This is one of the most amazing Kodachromes I've ever seen. Truly a brilliant photograph.
Ed Gilvarte
brilliant portrait, amazing quality of information and feeling in the shadows.
jmglessner
that's totally Paul Newman.
supreme drop
great subject. i would have cropped it differently but great photo non-the-less.
disastrous observation
Wow, what an image - very powerful. Has'nt occupational health & safety come a long way !
diana_11_6
Wow, i happened onto this photo without realizing it was taken in the same area of the state where I live. In fact, my father used to work around Sunray, Tx though not in this field.
Merricks Photos
a href="http://flickr.com/groups/[email protected]/">
Congratulations! You have been given the Crystal Award ~ Invited Photos only . Please post your photo to the group.
**Sassy**
man, this shit is creepy, but amazing :D love it!
Rulex Karamazov Back again, reloaded K!
amazing and strong capture!
xose666
estupenda imagen
lawrence_grant247
wow! that is really haunting and strong.
feeble impulse
A very haunting image, hard worker, didn't have much and probably a real nice guy !!!
parsimonious talk
This is a fantastic study of a man...lines and colors are spectacular.
branko_k
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called The Portrait Gallery, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
terrific lake
couldn't see an eyes
Pilgrim on this road - Bill Revill
Now that is a phenomenal image.
msokal
Strong one!.Excellent!.
*.:｡✿*ﾟJoe,N!ck and Kev!n*.:｡✿*ﾟ
great image dood! but hes scary!
Stathis Tzouvaras
Fantastic photo!!!
Spenser.Cat
Wow
KShouting
Nice!
shunshifu
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Texas - The Lone Star State, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
shunshifu
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Texas - The Lone Star State, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
Watkinsfamily2011
Powerful. Interesting men like this have given much of there lives to their work. Which to me is honorable.
vuemme
Really strong shot!
robert_rex_jackson
I keep coming back to this one. 1942. How many years had he been doing this in 1942? How much longer did he keep doing it? I've met coal miners with blue-black hands from working the mines for decades. People like this are amazing. Wondrous image.
hallowed writer
Please Add It To My Group www.flickr.com/groups/photo_expression/ ;) Thank You!
careful voyage
great....a perfect capture
KURIOS illustrateur
very powerful, this worker is very impressive.
sharontscirh
Very hard worker and it is a powerful statement for the working class
ANDY LEDDY
walfrido
The Best!!!!!!
Benobeone
great industrial portrait
D. Ingraham
reality is stranger than fiction.
heady scale
Truly a great photo, but why do I find it so haunting?
Erwan bazin photography (F2.8) I'm back!
la photo est bouchée, mais terrible ce portrait
tostoneone
look impressive!!!
absorbing silver
interessante!!
kate053
superbe:!
corvalliskayaker
Such a powerful image! Really great.
kemirgen
amazing photo!
sarahspeare
almost an erie feel, love it !
usbaldo ochoa
wow! Terrorifico! Excellent work!
Sex_Boom
! An impressive achievemente !!! ... my English is very basic , !SORRY! Lights fantastics.... beautiful and as well as admirable,congratulation...
Wendolyne Pérez
very good pic!
Иванкос (Ivankos)
Perfect!!!
Andres chispas Bermudez
good work
FvFotografia - Fernando Villalobos
this pic is excellent, good work.
victorious crowd
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Wir haben`s schwarz auf weiss ONLY THE BEST IN B&W ♥ ♥ ♥, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
phoppernowlin
Haunting is a good word here.
mikem1115
Wow! Very bold and in your face tones!
Baqir Ali
Wonderful Artwork
chidexmo
nice picture..he must be smoking a whole lot of things in the plant other than weed. he looks more like a GHOST RIDER
aSMawi
damn good...
Ricardo Alejandro Ramírez Núñez
oh my G...
Wattewolkii
ugly is very spooky but a nice shot..:)
F.FaISaL
this is amazing
johnfinn64
incredible
*erinnoel*
no words.
Issazc
is something dirty on his face?or his face is infected by something?
thachanhnguyen
God!
masoud khamis
excllent >><
sharkoman
wonderful document
Andrea Rope
magnifica, simplemente directa y sencilla!
afromemy
wonderfull!!!!
Adrien B.
I love this one
Song River- CowGirlZen Photography
the photo just stopped me... so many things to wonder about... wow.
manuelpenatorner
Fantastic portrait !!!!!!!!!
danimillar_
great
Nathan Cooper
Incredible!
angelo liton
touching me,,,
Renee Rendler
caoseducado
Impressive portrait!
Þeyr
Awesome
Einsherz
fantastic image!
paul_schaffner
One of the most amazing portraits I've ever seen.
gilsonmaximo
www.mundomovie.com.br
Enric Martinez
John Vachon is surely one of the most talented photographers I konw. What I most appreciate is how his color image bear the same emotional charge as black and white. Specially these dense shadows are much the style I try to achieve...
눈여겨보다
Cool
sueanngalrao
Impressionante!
ema ♪♫♪♫ naufrago in un mare di stelle
Magnifica !!!
nandabeca
Wow! That must be a horrible job ><
Chicago Love
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called -Moody&Spooky- * Post 1, comment on 2 *, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
piecar
a truly beautiful and compeling image. Thank you LOC.
All I need is a Camera
wow!
Deva Lou (Laura Loi)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called *GOTAN PROJECT*, and we'd love to have this added to the group! Stupenda!
AngelizePhotography
geez this is amazing!!
aquatic border
that's enough to scare the hell out of you
pendulumWaves & cyclicalStructures
brutallity.. Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Groove Art, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
ranpaes
Carbon seems to be inorganic.
Smashn Time
Awesome image.
mathewsmtr
Fantastic!
brash week
Que se puede decir de una obra de arte....
ExNihil
Skeery.
genniyahh
amazing,
alfredofish49
Hi: to let you know that I have placed your photo at Dos polizas de salud al tiempo Thanks for a nice photo. Alfredo E.
second iron
Wow, that's very nice :)
Martha Letchinger
this is greatt
blake.fawley
whaaaaaatttt
ChriS6868
wow! so much emotion in this shot! great tones and light -- Seen on my Flickr home page. (?)
meihaha
Nice shoot.
francymiorelli
foto che parla da sè....complimenti!
davidebart
fantastic
Lindsay Nichols
This has to be one of the most incredible photographs I've ever witnessed.
masoud khamis
Lovely shot
serious direction
Christ !, I thought my job at Chrysler as a Furnace Operator was bad ! incredible image.......
gourai
super image
light interest
This is just amazing. Too powerful for words.
MMM ZZZ
wow!
andre govia.
wow this is class ! love the use of light and tone here 10/10
walkinginspace pt2....
This photo took my breath away.........the most stunning to date...
Udayan Kapur
spooky !! But a superb photo !!
fresh plastic
http://www.flickr.com/photos/withrajat/3747903000/sizes/
Emi Fujimoto
excellent!
Jonathan|Campos
1942 holy crap.
Le nai
wow this image is indeed strong
Bruna Di Pietrantonio
Very impressive shot. Awesome!!!!!!!
DMF"22"
Impressionants textures :) Incredible texture :)
Zoom Lens
Compelling!
thedickieburd
incredible portrait.
minions & myrmidons
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Face Time, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
SnowFire Ranch Barnwood furniture
A living ghost..
cruzer1504
Freaky stuff!
Refuse2lose1
brilliant!
Analie Tagud
Great pix..
frequent stove
Fantastique...phénoménal !!! Fantastic...prodigious !!! Fantástico...fenomenal !!!
fortunato MERCADO / photography
Wow...................Nice indeed.
fortunato MERCADO / photography
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called inspired - exposures, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
[email protected]
concerned arch
Good picture
Maria Kikoler (busy)
Beautiful! Reminds me Sebastião Salgado, famous brazilian photographer, on his book " Workers".
$jeremy anderson2$
this the scary thing i ever saw and it remined me of somebody at my school. and his name is ZACK REACH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.
mhuseinm
"the industrial disease" ...and that was how they kept the industrial revolution running!
Victoria Berglin
wow, awesome photo.
shiny title
Seen in:
Magical Beauty
please tag your picture"magical beauty"
andre govia.
wow this is great ,looks like he works hard 10/10
Horatiu Eduard
great photo!!!!
[email protected]
ktom says: my dad worked at sunray carbon black plant in 40s,50s ,where was osha when we needed them.
srhager
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called cool catz club, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
Hedro.alali
Absolutely The Perfect Photographer ,This photo is definitely SPECIAL
melisa urkun
waowww :)))
Týì¿¿ëýÍ
woooooooooow Awesome
@chenbrimac
gOOD...
Syl Anasse
+++++
invincible town
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Stuff That Is Dark, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
GraBaluz
Strong Picture
judo_dad1953
Great Portrait!
irq506
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called ChromaNoir, and we'd love to have this added to the group! This is very striking image, much to be learned from this kind of study, and this style of capture. Inspiring.
Oeuil de Lynx
doesn't he look like a sad clown?
Miguel Gerard
Amazing shot! Nice work!
Taron Curtis
Stunning capture !
pwcrockett
Beautifully composed.
elfin flavor
freakin' amazing
GenaJWare
Smoking is harmful to health.
*Just Believe*
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Dark and Disturbing, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
wenxue2222
Haunting indeed. An important reminder of how many of our forefathers and mothers worked their lives away as cogs in the great industrial machine. Plenty of people all around the world also still working just as hard and in no better conditions than this man.
Ricky_tha_man
An-amazing-image.... Superb Ricky
Sultan alSultan
Excellent image
SpaLuca
amazing shot
alert amusement
helluva image, the composition is very memorable with that roofline and the way the hat is almost just a hint. great, great work.
ljcdlc01
Man what a powerful image. Love the picture.
resolute fold
esta wenisimo
Nathaly Souza
wow!
The Big Jiggety
Very powerful portrait, worth many a poem.
troijanskinhead
i like the pic cuz i look like that every other day and nobodys at my job taking pix
H. K..
Eine sehr schön gestaltetes Foto. Seen on my Flickr home page. (?)
Joffley
Undead!
llynnowens
Love, love, love this.
grandiose gate
I used this as part of a remix of several different photos for my music project. Not sure if it's going to be an ad, a poster, a shirt, or what. Maybe it will just be. Note that the coal worker looks dramatically different when you lighten things up a bit. He's more like a cowboy here. [http://www.flickr.com/photos/ten22music/5895953603/in/set-72157627102572244]
Steven Hammerli
i love you
L Mitchell
A very powerful photo of what legnths a man will go to in order to support a family. Disturbing !
last page
Mosts Hard working men did all types of dirty jobs to earn a dollar. Most likely he is gone. The men back then were willing to work no matter what. Great Photo and Tribute to the Hard working American Men.
last page
Then when this Hard worker went home, he didn't have a bath tub to clean up. Most likely no running water or electricity. Probably very little food.
imeanyou
Sunray..some kind of sick joke.
feigned judge
great shot
alanjoao
awesome work !!!
nakedhand
One of the best photographs I have seen in a long time. Just incredible on all levels.
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Thanks for sharing this in our "Picture Texas with TSLAC" group (www.flickr.com/groups/picturetexas)! I shared it on TSLAC's Facebook page (www.facebook.com/tslac). -Cesar
60lpsdf250
Man, this guy worked hard and sacrificed his health for his family, I'm sure... tough man. Not sure how many of us would make that sacrifice these days...
steinerkimberly
I was thinking just the same thing as above, how much he sacrificed . We have no idea of what sacrifice is in this generation.
Elmore Dodge
There were still carbon black plants operating and depositing unbelievable pollution into the air when I moved to West Texas in 1962. The prevailing winds from the west and southwest deposited tons of soot over the immediate vicinity. More than once, traffic on Highway 80 (now I-20) west of Odessa came to a stop when the black clouds rolled out over the highway on the rare occasion of no wind. The black clouds did not come out of a smokestack but billowed out of the large buildings. The man in the photo has a white powder on his face, but look at his neck and clothes. He worked in those clouds. Another danger in those plants was from hydrogen-sulfide, the odorless, invisible gas that can kill a human in a matter of seconds. It was the hydrogen-sulfide in the natural gas that was a key component of the carbon black process and the West Texas oil and natural gas wells produce massive volumes of "sour" gas. The following is the address of an article on the carbon black business in Texas: tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/doc01
Arden (LOC P&P)
Thank you Elmore Dodge for your comment and for sharing the article about the carbon black business in Texas. They provide context and improve our understanding of this image.
thegirlwholeftthefridgeopen
This might be the craziest portrait I've ever seen. Horror movie leatherface vibes