Abstract This article considers the way that two photographers working very much within the North American documentary tradition established by the Farm Security Administration of the 1930s, captured the labor of migrant agricultural workers in the 1950s and the 1980s. Reading Life photographer Michael Rougier’s images, I argue that his experimental techniques, such as double exposure and unusual camera angles, enabled him to do more than make visible the reality of migrant labor. These devices destabilize a comfortable, easy understanding of the photographs. They compel us to look at them, rather than just give them a leisurely glance. By making us look, these photographs play with the representability of the worker. The practice of creating these photographs is comparable with the alienation of labor. Insofar as the worker is separated from the commodity she produces—and ultimately from herself—likewise the camera separates out a framed moment from the flow of time, abstracting it and enabling the reproduction of images. Comparing Rougier's archive with an exhibit by Philip Decker, I argue that the camera can be used to capture the alienation of labor, exposing the exploitation that capitalist modes of production normally obscure.

中文翻译：

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异化曝光：拍摄劳动活动

摘要 本文考虑了两位摄影师在 1930 年代农场安全管理局建立的北美纪录片传统中工作的方式，他们捕捉了 1950 年代和 1980 年代农民工的劳动。阅读《生活》摄影师迈克尔·鲁吉尔 (Michael Rougier) 的照片，我认为他的实验技术，例如双重曝光和不寻常的拍摄角度，使他能够做到的不仅仅是使农民工的现实可见。这些设备破坏了对照片的舒适、轻松理解。它们迫使我们注视它们，而不仅仅是悠闲地瞥一眼。通过让我们看，这些照片与工人的可再现性有关。创作这些照片的做法与异化劳动相媲美。就工人与她生产的商品——最终与她自己——分开而言，同样，相机从时间流中分离出一个构图的时刻，将其抽象化并实现图像的再现。将 Rougier 的档案与 Philip Decker 的展览进行比较，我认为相机可以用来捕捉劳动的异化，揭露资本主义生产方式通常掩盖的剥削。