Untitled, Shenango Ingot Molds
1978–1981
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image: 13.7 x 12.8 cm (5 3/8 x 5 1/16 in.) sheet: 17.6 x 14.2 cm (6 15/16 x 5 9/16 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Pierre Cremieux and Denise Jarvinen
Accession Number
2010.138.42
Art Historical Context
Milton Rogovin's *Untitled, Shenango Ingot Molds* (1978–1981) captures the stark, monumental forms of massive steel ingot molds at the Shenango steel plant in Buffalo, New York Rogovin, a renowned documentary photographer, dedicated much of his career to portraying the lives and environments of working-class communities, often with unflinching honesty. This gelatin silver print emerges from his immersive series on Buffalo's steel industry during a time of economic upheaval in America's Rust Belt, as factories faced decline amid globalization and automation. The image reflects the era's industr...
About the Artist
Milton Rogovin
Milton Rogovin (1909–2011), an American social documentary photographer, was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Lithuanian Jewish immigrant parents amid the hardships of the Great Depression, which profoundly shaped his lifelong commitment to illuminating the dignity of working-class people. After attending Stuyvesant High School, he earned a B.S. in optometry from Columbia University in 1931 and late...