Silvered Steel c. 1941

Gerald Granger created this photograph, "Silvered Steel," using the gelatin silver process. This technique, popular in the early 20th century, involves coating paper with light-sensitive silver halides, allowing for detailed monochrome prints. The photograph's material quality profoundly influences its aesthetic, giving us a silvery surface and stark tonal range. Granger captured an industrial scene, likely tanks or silos, emphasizing their scale and geometric forms through careful composition and lighting. The choice of silver gelatin printing enhances the metallic sheen of the steel, celebrating the visual texture and form of industrial production. The image reflects the machine age's fascination with industrial subjects, transforming them into objects of beauty. It invites us to consider the labor and processes involved in producing these massive structures, and prompts consideration of how we value and represent industrial landscapes within art. Rather than dismissing these images as purely documentary, we might consider them as integral contributions to the aesthetic landscape.