Winter morning - Shovelling out 1871

Curator: Winslow Homer’s “Winter Morning - Shovelling Out” presents a stark image of labor against the backdrop of a snow-laden landscape. Editor: Oh, it gives me this feeling of being completely buried, not just physically in the snow, but emotionally too. It's so…isolating. Curator: This piece, lacking a specific date, speaks to the universal experience of confronting nature's power through manual work. Consider the repetitive motion of shoveling, the physical toll it exacts, and its place within a larger system of survival. Editor: Absolutely. You can almost feel the cold seeping through, can’t you? But there’s something stubbornly hopeful too in the people digging themselves out, making a path. Curator: Indeed. The choice of black and white printing further emphasizes the starkness of the scene, highlighting the materiality of the work - the paper, the ink, the printing process itself - as integral to its meaning. Editor: It makes you think about what ‘home’ really means. Not just a building, but something you have to actively carve out, even fight for, doesn't it? Curator: Precisely. Labor is not just a means to an end; it’s fundamental to place-making. Editor: I’ll carry that image with me. The quiet resilience… Curator: An enduring image that asks us to contemplate labor.