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Great Northern Railway, Extra-3383 East near Willmar, Minnesota
image overall
image overall

Great Northern Railway, Extra-3383 East near Willmar, Minnesota

Artist David Plowden (American, born 1932)
Date1955; printed 2014
MediumInkjet print
DimensionsImage: 12 11/16 × 11 1/16 inches (32.23 × 28.1 cm)
Sheet: 19 1/16 × 13 inches (48.42 × 33.02 cm)
Credit LineGift of David and Sandra Plowden
Object number2014.36.79
SignedSigned and dated on sheet verso, center, in pencil: "D Plowden 1955"
InscribedTitled on sheet verso, center, in pencil: "Great Northern Railway / 'Extra 3383 East ' / near Willmar, MN"; Print date on sheet verso, lower left, in pencil: "5/3/14"
MarkingsOn sheet verso, top center, in pencil: "B-001-GN 1955 - (NWS PC1 PC4 5/3/14"; On sheet verso, lower left, in pencil: "#3 / +PC1 +PC2"; On sheet verso, lower right, in pencil, circled: "79"
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DescriptionImage of snow covered ground with train traveling in background. A large plume of steam rises above the train.Gallery Label

Here, David Plowden pictures a locomotive with a billowing cloud of steam visible against a winter Minnesota sky. Plowden worked as an assistant for O. Winston Link from 1958–1959, sharing Link’s fascination with photographing steam engines.

With the fervor of a visual archivist, David Plowden has dedicated his career to photographing the American landscape and its material culture. He has said of his work: “I have been beset with a sense of urgency to record those parts of our heritage which seem to be receding as quickly as the view from the rear of a speeding train.”

Copyright© David Plowden
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