Lewis Hine: Photography for the Children.
Will Hamilton
Dynamic Essay: Lewis Hine: Photography for the Children.
Narrative:
Like most people I never got the chance to meet my great-grandfather, but I always heard stories. A veteran of WW1 and eventually a businessman, he lived a life filled with adventure and discovery, one that left him with a whole arsenal of stories. However, among many other things, he was also a reserved man. Quiet, composed and generally deadpan, he was never one to break out emotionally. Yet there were always two stories of his that could invoke such great emotion from my great-grandfather. The first was stories of the war. He was drafted in late 1917 to the United States military and would fight across central Europe until the wars end in 1918. It was in this campaign where we would permanently lose hearing in his left ear, a condition that greatly annoyed my grandmother growing up.
The second, and most emotional, were tales of his childhood. My great-grandfather was born into relative poverty in rural Scotland. In 1893 when he was only barely able to walk, his family immigrated to Connecticut, passing through New York and Ellis Island like millions of others. Life in Connecticut was not easy and my great grandfather and his two sisters were forced into factory work at a young age. My great grandfather was put to work at a canning factory by the age of 6, a job that involves cutting and preparing fruits and vegetables for canning, and the sealing of cans. Despite being so young only working at cannery between the ages of 6–9, he had clear and traumatic memories of the environment and the horrors a boy that young had to face. He suffered numerous deep cuts from his job of slicing fruit, each leaving scars that lasted until his death, and on occasion had to bear witness to others pass out in exhaustion, or in extreme cases fall over dead. Sadly my great-grandfather was not alone in having to face the traumatic horror of factory work. Between the years 1870 and 1938, millions of minors were employed into brutal and unforgiving factory work. These jobs were dangerous, especially for undeveloped children, and according to historama.org “In 1900 there were 25,000–35,000 deaths and 1 million injuries occurred on industrial jobs, many of these victims would have been children”(Historama). This unjust practice was the norm for a multitude of decades before its mortality was finally questioned in the early 1900’s. However without definitive evidence the practice could not be stopped. That’s when freelance photographer Lewis Hine intervened and changed the course of history.
Introduction:
Companies who used child labor were hesitant to let anyone document it. Many knew that if word or picture got out about the conditions young children worked, it would mean a significant loss of cheap labor for these companies. However one day in 1908 a highly successful tannery on the outskirts of New York let in a shaggy bible salesman into their factory, a business at the time that employed more than 100 overworked and underpaid children. After less than an hour passed, the salesman’s thanked the factory workers and promptly left. Three months after this mundane visit, Lewis Hine, a freelance photographer working for the National Child Labor Committee, released dozens of photos of the young boys and girls in the tannery and in another dozen other factories across the country. These photographs depicted numerous atrocities, ranging from 4 year olds passed out with soot and ash on their faces, to dozens of children manning factory lines, welding equipment half their size. Rightfully the general public was shocked. Hine continued this act, posing as numerous identities, on some days an inspector on others an industrial photographer. Hine’s work became widely popular in magazines, pamphlets and books and eventually they’d be important evidence of the creation of laws against child labor. Due to Lewis Hine and his daring fight against the most powerful businesses during the industrial revolution, me and all my peers are granted the deep privilege of freedom and the absence of forced labor. Hine dedicated his life to fighting for this change to occur, putting himself at risk so the lives of millions of children would improve. For this heroic battle we must always remember Lewis Hine as he stopped millions of children from being exploited, just like my great-grandfather was. Lewis Hine’s photographs led to the abolishment of malicious child labor, he proved that photography was a tool for social change, and Hine inspired other photographers to change the world through art.
Conformation Sections:
The photos leaked by Lewis Hine after his numerous visits to factories across the country were extremely important in the eventual abolition of exploitative child labor. In the 1900s child labor was widespread and widely accepted. It kept the American economical machine running and for business owners it was the easiest way to earn a profit. Before Hine, journalists had only described the horrible conditions of factories in words, and because of a lack of evidence, the factory owners could deny their claims every time. The NCLC used Hine to infiltrate into these harsh and desolate factories and for once gain inarguable evidence against the horrid conditions of child workers. In 1908 Hine began his travels, taking photos of children in mines, farms and factories. Soon these photos returned to the NCLC, and they were quickly published in newspapers and publicity materials. However the spread of photos in the 1900s was slow and unpredictable and Hine’s damning work took years to reach anyone with any authority. Yet eventually it did, and the photos were finally brought to light. They were used as crucial evidence when lawmakers passed the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, which prohibited the hiring of most minors. Speaking to this, the U.S. Capitol Visiter center writes “His photos and reports, produced between 1908 and 1924, fueled public opinion and inspired Congress to enact national child labor legislation”(U.S. Capitol Visiter Center). This act was passed in 1938, three decades after Hine’s first efforts against child labor begun and just two years before his death in 1940. Without Hine’s daring visits into the dark and dirty factories of the early 20th century millions of more children may have been exploited and left to rot within their unforgiving workplaces.
Lewis Hine founded the idea that photography could be used as a tool for social change. His successful efforts against the exploitation of child labor, proved to the world the power held in a photo. During the 1900s photography had been around since the early 1830’s and was no new concept. However until Hine, photography was rarely used other than as an aid to painters or for portraits for rich families. The use of photography was limited among a very small portion of society and was not used in a particularly meaningful manner, mainly concerned in spreading the global image of a rich family or person. Hine however proved that photography was more than just a tool for documentation. His photos of young exploited factory workers manifested that photography was more than just images, and that each picture could evoke emotion and inspire change. He discovered that, as Eddie Adams, another distinguished photographer puts it “Still photographs are the most powerful weapon in the world”(One Click). After the photos taken by Hine proved to hold genuine power, leading to the abolishment of most child labor, photography would never be the same again. The focus shifted away from meaningless portraits to pictures that held stories. Street photography began and photographers began to portrait all classes, not just the upper class. This would all be accentuated when WW2 hit, sparking a whole new genre of meaningful photos. Today Hine is credited with the creation of“photo story” a genre of narrative photography that attempts to capture stories through photos. This genre of the art form would be hugely influential throughout the 21st century, and is still one of the most popular variants of photography today. To conclude, Lewis Hine pushed forward both reform towards child labor and reform towards the art of photography, which he created a new style for and increased it’s influence and importance.
After Hine’s death in 1940 his influence continued to inspire other photographers to pick up their cameras and change the world. The photo story, the technique established by Hine, was quickly adopted by a massive host of other photographers who used it to fight for and inspire reform. Artists such as Diane Arbus who attempted to normalize the many marginalized groups of 20th century New York City, and Robert Capa’s terrifying pictures of WW2, which beckoned in a new era of anti war citizens, were direct consequence of Hine’s influence. Even today’s modern photography still has remnants of Hine’s influence. Steve McCurry, a famed photojournalist said in an interview with IPA that “I suppose my work is just a continuation of the early photographic pioneers like Hine and Muybridge, it’s certainly largely influenced by them”(Farmani Group). His influence is important because it has kept the art form expanding and varied for nearly a century. Without him it’s impossible to say when if ever “photo stories” would have been created or if social justice and change would have become such a prevalent theme within the art form. His work is also important because it’s a clear view into the past. Each photo shows the viewer the plight of a 1900’s child worker, and demonstrates clearer than anything else how far our society has come. To conclude, Hine has continually inspired and influenced photographers of the 20th and 21st centuries.
The major lesson I’ve learned from working on this project is that my privilege is massively deep. I can’t bear to imagine how my weak and fragile self would have fared without the dank coal mines and canning factories of the 1900s. And due to the heroics of Lewis Hine my peers and I are free from this torment. Hine did so much for both social justice and photography, and meshed the two into a new art form. Over his long career he paved the way for The Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938 and for a new generation of photographers who would carry forth his influence to a new generation. In conclusion, Lewis Hine fought to protect all the youth of America. He fought to protect my great-grandfather in the 1900s, and his work has protected me a century later in 2021. His photography has been crucial for generations and as time continues and culture changes, it will still be just as significant.
Thanks to these wonderful sources:
Editor at Historama. “US Industrial Revolution.” 1800’s Child Labor in America: Causes and Facts ***, Siteseen Limited, 9 Jan. 2018, www.american-historama.org/1866-1881-reconstruction-era/child-labor-america.htm#:~:text=The%20children%20worked%20in%20dangerous,victims%20would%20have%20been%20children.
Editor at U.S. Capitol Visiter Center. “Lewis Hine: Exposing Child Labor.” U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, 2018, www.visitthecapitol.gov/exhibitions/congress-and-progressive-era/lewis-hine-exposing-child-labor.
Farmani Group. “Steve McCurry.” International Photography Awards — IPA, 20 Feb. 2017, www.photoawards.com/interview-with-steve-mccurry/.
Rosenwald, Mike. “The Photographer Who Helped End Child Labor in America.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 22 Aug. 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/retropod/the-photographer-who-helped-end-child-labor-in-america/.
MOMA Editor. “Lewis W. Hine: MoMA.” The Museum of Modern Art, 2018, www.moma.org/artists/2657.
SCOTT, ELEANOR. “One Click: Photography’s Power as a Tool for Social Change.” Urth Magazine, 5 June 2019, mygobe.com/magazine/championing-photography-for-social-change/.