Using the human body as a form of measurement is a powerful way to demonstrate size. Throughout work on the American Canal Project, men were used to stand in, near, and around completed sections of the Canal to help communicate its sheer size. The image begins the sixth annual history of the All-American Canal Project, created in 1939.
In the table of contents the image is described as the “Frontispiece” of the document, and given the title, “All-American Canal, Looking Upstream from Point of Left Bank near Station 1005+00.”

While it cannot be seen in the photo, there is a silver sheen to the original document. This is because it is a silver gelatin photographic image on double weight, developing-out paper. Glossy photographs are commonly used in this, and all, of the annual histories. Thus making this particular image stand out as a decorative touch.
Series: All-American Canal Project Histories, 1948-1954. Record Group 48: Records of the Office of the Secretary of the Interior, 1826-2009. National Archives Identifier: 2292770