Lewis Hine's 1920
Power house mechanic working on steam pump, one of his "work portraits", shows a
working class American in an industrial setting. The carefully posed subject, a young man with
wrench in hand, is hunched over, surrounded by the
machinery that defines his job. But while constrained by the machinery, the man is straining against it—muscles taut, with a determined look—in an iconic representation of
masculinity.
Photo credit: Lewis Hine