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Malloy’s Cut, Sherman Station, Laramie Range

Andrew Russell

Artwork Details

Malloy’s Cut, Sherman Station, Laramie Range
1868
Andrew Russell
albumen print on paper
7 15/16 x 9 7/8 in. (20.16 x 25.08 cm);14 ¼ x 19 ¼ in. (36.2 x 48.89 cm);8 x 9 3/4 in. (20.32 x 24.77 cm)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. W. Howard Bond
1989/1.53

Description

Subject Matter:

This photograph depicts a ground-level view of a train track running through a freshly excavated passage. Running diagonally away from the camera, the track enters the frame in lower left corner, the roughly hewn railroad ties and iron tracks stretching into the distance. On either side of the track, the walls of the manmade passage rise steeply upwards. Cleaved out of the rock and soil in the train’s way, Malloy’s Cut allows the railroad to continue onwards unfettered by the natural topography before it. A lone man stands to the right of the tracks in the center of the frame, one leg raised on the banks, slightly turned away from the viewer and gazing into the distance. The man’s stance evokes the industrious and determined spirit of the time. This pose, paired with the railroad running out of sight, speaks to the enthusiastic momentum of American westward expansion of the time.  

Physical Description:

This photograph depicts railroad tracks cutting through a man-made passage.  To the right of the tracks stands a lone man looking into the distance.

Usage Rights:

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