Accession Number
1974/1.122

Title
Faucheurs, Somme

Artist(s)
Eugène Atget

Artist Nationality
French (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
1890 - 1900

Medium & Support
gold-toned gelatin silver print on paper

Dimensions
10 in x 13 in (25.4 cm x 33.02 cm)

Credit Line
Museum Purchase

Subject matter
In this image Atget captures two field hands in the process of reaping hay. No posed portrait, the two men are hard at work: one man slices the hay with a scythe (the motion is so swift it is rendered a blur in Atget's photograph), while the other man gathers hay into bundles, his back to the viewer. Behind them are many evenly spaced piles of hay, suggesting the length of time the two laborers have been working. Atget accentuated the steep incline of the hill behind the workers by placing his camera low and close to the uncut hay, producing a high horizon line that causes the hill behind to loom over the foreground figures.

Physical Description
Two reapers at work in a field.

Primary Object Classification
Photograph

Collection Area
Photography

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
documentary photography
farms
field
fields (land)
hay
labor
males
modern and contemporary art
motion
scythes
sickles
workers