David Plowden graduated from Yale with a degree in economics with the hope of working in railroad management. He became interested in photography while working as an assistant to the trainmaster on the Great Northern Railway in Minnesota. He apprenticed to O. Winston Link and studied under photographers Minor White and Nathan Lyons before striking out on his own. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1968 and a Research Grant from the Smithsonian Institute in 1970.
While Plowden is best known for his images of steam locomotives, his photographs portrayed nearly every facet of railroading. Hallmarks of his work include great care in framing, deliberate composition and a delicate sense of light and shadow. His images transport the viewer back to a period of time that has disappeared. With the decline of the steam locomotive Plowden trained his camera on American industry and infrastructure. He is the author of numerous books, his latest Heartlands: The Plains and The Prairie, published in 2013.
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