While on assignment to take photographs of air
conditioning systems for Westinghouse in Staun-
ton, Virginia in 1955, Link drove a dozen miles to
Waynesboro to watch a Norfolk & Western train
that was passing through. After a rail worker’s invi-
tation, Link toured the train yard, repair shop, and
refueling facilities, where his enthusiasm mounted
until he spotted a steam engine at work. At that time
in the mid-1950s, the major railroads had traded
their steam engines for diesel-powered engines, but
the Norfolk & Western still powered their locomo-
tives by steam.
After returning to New York and excited by the
potential of photographing the railway at night,
Link submitted a proposal and several prints that
he had taken to the head of Norfolk & Western,
asking permission to document the trains, people,
and property along the railway’s route. Link
advanced his cause by pointing out the absence of
night photographs of trains, though his preference
for night shooting stemmed from his desire to con-
trol lighting that could not be accomplished in day-
light. Given access to the line, Link, along with his
assistant (and later biographer) Thomas Garver,
filled the time between his commercial assignments
by covering the line’s route, which wound through
Virginia, North Carolina, West Virginia, Ken-
tucky, and Ohio. During the five years that he
spent on this venture, financing it completely with
his own funds, Link employed a specially designed
and coordinated series of flashes at night to depict
his subject. Relying upon his scientific training,
Link intricately placed lighting in the areas that
he wished to film, sometimes taking days to set up
for a complex shot in which he simultaneously used
three 45-inch view cameras. Such dramatic im-
ages asNW1/Train No. 2 Arriving at Waynesboro,
Virginia, 1955;NW 723, Cow 13, Norvel Ryan and
his Son Bringing in the Cows, Train No. 3 in the
Background, Shawsville, Virginia, 1955; andNW
821 Luray Crossing with Y-6 Locomotive and
Freight, Luray, Virginia, 1956, resulted.
Link’s charming personality won him friends
among the rail workers who rallied when Link
requested that engineers back trains up for another
shotorcreatewhite steamondemand tosynchronize
with his shots. Understanding the interdependence
between people and technology, Link integrated
rail workers, as well as people who lived in the
surrounding communities, within his images, thus
illustrating how the engines affected daily life and
how the railroad’s active, loud, churlish personality
was a member of the community.
Following the running of the last steam engine in
May of 1960, Link sought publishers who would be
interested in a book-length treatment of the Nor-
folk & Western photographs. His failure to secure a
publishing contract forced him to lock away his
negatives and try to market sound recordings that
he made of the steam engines. Few of his images
were published in national magazines and it was
not until 1976 when the Museum of Modern Art,
New York, acquired six of his photographs for the
permanent collection that any professional interest
was expressed in his images. After Alan Ripp’s
1982 article inAmerican Photographer, solo exhibi-
tions of Link’s Norfolk & Western photos were
launched in London and in the United States the
next year, thus broadening the audience for Link’s
work. Retiring in 1983 to Mount Kisco, New York,
Link was recognized as the only photographer
shooting at night during the period from 1940 to- Link’s other significant project was docu-
menting the erection of the Verranzo Bridge linking
Brooklyn to Staten Island in 1960.
Remarkable for his planning, his ability to set up
the shot and envision the outcome, coupled with
his commitment to perfection, resulted in Link’s
depiction of the relationship between industry and
humanity. His techniques lent an otherwise innoc-
uous scene the ability to evoke a second and third
look from his audience. Most importantly, Link
recorded a time and place in America that other-
wise would have remained hidden from view. The
History Museum and Historical Society of Western
Virginia has set up an O. Winston Link Museum in
Roanoke, Virginia, to preserve and disseminate
Link’s remarkable historical and cultural legacy.
RebeccaTolley-Stokes
Seealso:Industrial Photography; Photography in
the United States: the South
Biography
Born in Brooklyn, New York, 16 December 1914. Attended
Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York,
B.A., 1937. Tau Beta Phi, 1936. Public Relations Direc-
tor, Carl Byior and Associates, 1937–1942; research
engineer and photographer for the Airborne Instruments
Laboratory, Office of Scientific Research and Develop-
ment, Columbia University, 1942–1945; self-employed
industrial and commercial photographer, 1942–1987.
Died 30 January 2001 in Katonah, New York.Individual Exhibitions
1983 Night Trick; The Photographers’ Gallery, London,
England, and traveling
1983 Akron Art Museum; Akron, Ohio
1983 International Center of Photography; New York, New
York
1983 Chrysler Museum; Norfolk, VirginiaLINK, O. WINSTON