Coal Miner, Kentucky
Ben Shahn
American, born Lithuania. 1898–1969
1935
A gelatin-silver photograph of a Kentucky coal miner caught on a brief rest, made to record the dignity and exhaustion of working-class life during the Depression.
You’re struck by the miner’s dirt-streaked face and distant, watchful gaze, the lamp perched on his cap and the rough timber framing beside him rendered in stark, tactile black-and-white tones.
Part of the Farm Security Administration’s documentary effort, the image helped make visible the human costs of industrial labor and shaped the language of social documentary and photojournalism in the 20th century.
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
6 1/2 × 9 5/8" (16.5 × 24.4 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of the Farm Security Administration
Accession
215.1941
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
