Big Picture

Arthur d'Arazien's particular talent was to photograph American industry. He recorded with artistry, precision, and passion the powerful, emotional impact of giant machines, immense structures, and complex artifacts. His photographs are the result of meticulous planning and implementation on a grand scale. He was an experimenter and an innovator, pioneering such techniques as multiple exposures on a single sheet of film; lights in motion in the dark; and the use of reflectors, flash powder, and strobe lights to illuminate huge interior and exterior spaces. He experimented with films, cameras, lenses, focus, exposure, filters, and lighting to achieve just the right effects. D'Arazien grew up in New York City, where he attended Cooper Union Institute. He became assistant to theatrical photographer George Lucas, from whom he learned the principles of lighting and stage craft that were later to become his specialty. During World War II he served as an instructor in aerial photography for the Army Air Corps, and there he learned to use magnesium flash powder to light huge exterior expanses. Following the war, d'Arazien began a distinguished career as an industrial photographer, making photographs for such clients as Alcoa, Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp., AT&T, Carrier Corp., Eastman Kodak, Ford, General Electric, General Motors, IBM, and US Steel. D'Arazien accompanies each image with a detailed explanation of the techniques he used to create the photo, discussing cameras, lenses, film, lighting, and logistics. Those interested in photography, the history of photography, or American industrial history will value this book.