Hot Shot Eastbound, Iaeger, West Virginia

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In this carefully composed and painstakingly illuminated photograph, Link captures the end of an era going by in a puff of smoke in the distance while the new automobile culture consumes the foreground. Link considered the No. 1242, “Hot Shot,” built in 1950, to be “the most beautiful engine ever built.” To catch the speeding train on film, Link employed his elaborate flash system. He set up 42 flashbulbs throughout the scene plus one to highlight his car and the couple he’d recruited to pose. His lights washed out the movie screen, so he printed the image of the plane from a negative he’d made separately of that night’s film, 'Battle Taxi.'

Keywords

United States
Night
Film
Crowd
Airplanes
Leisure
Photography
Drive-in movie
American
Cars
Black and White
Trains
Couple