Sawmill near Van Buren, ME, 1940/1986 is a dye transfer print by Ukrainian born photographer Jack Delano. It measures seven inches tall by ten inches wide and is viewed in landscape orientation, meaning its longest side is parallel to the ground. The image presents a vast rural landscape dominated by an active sawmill in the center– a facility which processes raw timber into lumber using large mechanical saws– with a dark plume of smoke rising from a tall smokestack that divides the scene vertically. A mound of pale beige sawdust dominates the foreground, while buildings, scaffolding, and equipment are arranged loosely throughout the mill behind it, with stacks of processed timber visible in the background. Railroad tracks stretch into the distance on the left side of the composition, while telephone poles and a dirt road run along the right, both vanishing toward the horizon. The mill’s barren ground contrasts sharply with the greenery that frames either side of the composition, extending to trees and low hills that dot the distant horizon. Above, rolling puffy white clouds sweep across the open sky, casting uneven shadows below and suggesting strong winds moving through the area.