Making a Crossing. Hold Her Heavy, Pard. 1886

Editor: Here we have Henry Hamilton Bennett’s photograph “Making a Crossing. Hold Her Heavy, Pard.” from 1886. The figures working seem burdened. What kind of story do you think Bennett is trying to tell here? Curator: I think Bennett gives us more than just a picturesque scene; we’re invited to consider the socioeconomic realities of late 19th-century America, specifically in the Wisconsin region. Editor: In what ways? Curator: Look at the figures. They are faceless, anonymous workers engaged in physically demanding labor. Bennett seems interested in showing the real cost of progress, perhaps the exploitation of working-class bodies and their relationship to natural resources like lumber. He prompts us to ask who benefits from this industry and at what expense? Do you notice the emphasis on labor in contrast to the beautiful scenery? Editor: I do see that contrast now. It’s easy to look past the figures and just focus on the landscape, especially because it is categorized as ‘landscape style’. Curator: Exactly. By entitling the photograph with the phrase "Hold her heavy, Pard.", Bennett brings out a potential double meaning - one might think of the work, the log as 'her'. But this evokes the societal burden placed upon both mankind and mother nature in industrial expansion. How can we see these men as agents in and of themselves within this system, when they are cogs within the industry itself? Editor: That's an interesting point; it encourages us to see how gender and class dynamics intersect within the image and beyond it. Thanks for expanding my interpretation! Curator: Of course! Considering the intersecting dimensions of art gives us tools to think critically about the historical conditions which shape not only art but the social issues with which we grapple today.