Faucheurs, Somme
Eugène Atget; Berenice Abbott
Description
Subject Matter:
In this image Atget captures two field hands in the process of reaping hay. No posed portrait, the two men are hard at work: one man slices the hay with a scythe (the motion is so swift it is rendered a blur in Atget's photograph), while the other man gathers hay into bundles, his back to the viewer. Behind them are many evenly spaced piles of hay, suggesting the length of time the two laborers have been working. Atget accentuated the steep incline of the hill behind the workers by placing his camera low and close to the uncut hay, producing a high horizon line that causes the hill behind to loom over the foreground figures.
Physical Description:
Two reapers at work in a field.
Usage Rights:
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