Blog #7

NYT photo sequence

Becoming a Steelworker Liberated Her: Then Her Job Moved to Mexico

This New York Times article features a woman named Shannon Mulcahy. She is a former steel worker at a factory called Rexnord in Indiana. In October 2016 the factory announced that it was leaving Indiana and moving to Mexico.

The photo sequence in this article is brilliant. It hit home with me in a very personal way; I grew up in a small town, called New Haven, very similar to the one described, and with people just like Mulcahey. There is one factory in my town that employs the majority of the population. If the factory were to move to Mexico it would truly devastate New Haven’s economy and citizens. Mulcahy’s story is a familiar and difficult one. With automation such as Amazon’s threatening to take over the tasks of the modern factory worker, millions of American workers are going to be devastated in the name of innovation. Economics says that with innovation comes replication; new, different jobs will somehow become available at some point. But this is an ongoing process that requires an adjustment period that is going to hurt factory workers.

The photo sequence tells the story of the nuances of Shannon Mulcahey’s life. This is a deliberate choice made by the photographer. When an article comes out stating that Rexnord is moving to Mexico and 300 workers will lose their jobs, we understand that it’s a bad thing, but humans can’t really digest facts this vast. Numbers are numbers; large and abstract. If we want to understand the gravity of this move, we need to understand the story of someone experiencing it.

The first picture shows Mulcahey’s calloused, wrinkled hands holding her granddaughter’s feet. Her nail polish is chipping. Her hands are large and rough but the photo is tender. By not immediately showing Mulcahey’s face, the audience wants more.

The next photo is of Mulcahey in front of her house with her granddaughter on her lap. Her son feeds his daughter. This picture establishes a sense of place and alludes to Mulcahey’s position in both of their lives — as a helper, a nurturer.

The next picture shows protest ads at the United Steelworkers Local 1999 in Indianapolis. The signs are protesting Rexnold’s move to Mexico, reading “Hey Rexnold, make it here in America!” and “Fighting for American jobs.” The photo is dark around the edges and has a nice color scheme. It gives background and makes sense of Mulcahey’s situation in a broader view.

The next is a picture of the factory. The most important part of this photo is the American flag in front of the building, which really adds to the relative feeling of injustice featured in the story.

The photo set goes on the highlight important parts of Mulcahey’s life — her dealing with her granddaughter, who has a rare chromosomal disorder; her with her daughter, who got many scholarships when she graduated high school to attend Purdue University; her coworkers at Rexnold; her at a job fair. My favorite ones, though, are the very normal ones that depict Mulcahey’s everyday life; shopping at the grocery store, driving to work, and putting on makeup in the car. Mulcahey is fully vulnerable and humanized. Once the story is finished, readers feel like they know her.

Each photo serves its own important function, and they work together very nicely to convey a feeling impossible to express in words. The photographer did an excellent job of portraying the life of an individual factory worker.