B29 Bomber Coming Out of the Factory

Artist: Laura Gilpin
Title: B29 Bomber Coming Out of the Factory
Date: 1994
Size: 10x13 in

Laura Gilpin started taking an interest in photography at a very young age. When she was in the learning process of photography there were no light meters to make sure the exposure was right. Everything was done by experiment and just getting the right feel for the light. Gilpin then went to the Clarence H. White School in New York to further study photography techniques.  At the school, Laura learned that her interest in music was directly related to her interest in photography.  In music one is continual with sound and in photography one is continual with ton. After her schooling, Gilpin worked closely with Mrs. Gertrude Käsebier to keep getting critiques.  Then, for a period of time during World War II, Gilpin worked as the official photographer for Boeing Airplane Company. Laura considers herself mainly a landscape artist but her work with other subjects like the Navaho has taught her patience and perspective on the subjects.

                Laura Gilpin’s photograph of the B29 Bomber Coming Out of the Factor really struck an interest with me because the lights behind the plane in the factory and the composition of the sky. In a way, the lights are glorifying this bomber plane when reality is the World War II was a very depressing and terrifying time for many. The complexion of the sky, how there is a glow around the factory indicates that this photography is taken around dawn when the bomber plane is most likely out on its way of its first journey. Because the sky is still so dark it hints to the darkness and depression that is out in the rest of the world while the brightness of the lights contradict this.  I think the contrast in this picture is excellent and the sharpness of the details focuses the picture even more on the plane. The reflection of the light on the water under the plane just adds more of a glorifying touch to the picture.