Accident at Michigan Central R.R. depot, Detroit. Detroit Publishing Company. Via Shorpy.

I wanted to post this image when I first saw it in early March. It’s a very compelling photograph — not just because of its newsworthy subject matter, but because of its strong composition (albeit somewhat cockeyed — I’m not sure whether this detracts or adds, given the subject) and unusually effective use of motion blur, set off by the two unblurred figures — the man in the derby hat who appears to be overseeing things, and the man ahead and to the right of him standing behind his wheelbarrow.

I faltered, though, when I tried to describe what was happening in the photograph, because I realized I couldn’t quite tell how the photograph was made. My eye’s first unthinking interpretation of the scene is that everyone was busy and active except the man in the derby — which was likely the case, but does not explain the photograph. (Also, this initial assumption may be partly to do with the photographer’s intentions or may be mostly chance on his end, but it certainly has something to do with my particular class awareness.)

However, on further inspection, I’m fairly sure that something else is at work. Maybe use of flash (powder? bulb? don’t know offhand which would be in common use at the time), although if so, I couldn’t possibly draw the lighting diagram for this scene. (Maybe someone more technically competent in such matters could, though.)

So I shelved the post on this photograph, because I thought I shouldn’t show you guys something if I couldn’t tell you what was happening in it. Lately, though, it occurred to me how silly that is. It’s a fantastic photograph, and just because I can’t say exactly what’s going on it, that doesn’t mean I can’t still see it’s fantastic and point that out to others.