"Giant Liner Launched Named 'Queen Mary'"
Times Wide World Photos
United States, active 1919–1941
September 26, 1934
A gelatin silver print photograph recording the 1934 launch of the ocean liner Queen Mary, made to convey the ship's monumental scale and the public spectacle surrounding its debut.
The ship's towering prow fills the frame like a wall of steel while a line of tiny, silhouetted men on the dock wave their hats, their gestures and the taut rigging turning the moment into a dramatic, industrial tableau.
The photograph shows how mass media turned feats of engineering into public spectacle, promoting ocean liners as symbols of national pride, technological progress, and the new era of modern travel.
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
11 3/16 × 9 5/16" (28.4 × 23.6 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
The New York Times Collection
Accession
2171.2001
Palette
Exhibitions
