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Lewis Hine is one of the most notable photographers to use the medium to promote social reform. He was not the first photographer to exploit the medium for social causes. He was, however, one of the photograohers to use it most effectively. Some of his most powerful images are of immigrants taken on Ellis Island. It is interesting to note how they were dressed on entering America from Europe at the turn of the century. The sailor suit was a prominent garment. Perhaps even more importantly, Hine's documentation of child workers were instrumental in effecting the labor reforms. His captions for his photographs provide a wealth of information about the working conditions, incomes, ages, sizes, and lives of the children that he photographed. Most of the images of the child workers show them wearing either kneepants or overalls. Hine worked as an investigative photographer for the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC), documenting working and living conditions
of children in the United States during 1908-21. The boy seen here is Raymond Bykes, Western Union messenger, getting on his bike in Norfolk, Virginia. The photograph was taken by Hine in June, 1911.
Lewis Wickes Hine was born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in 1874.
Hein Hine moved to New York City and accepted a position as an assistant teacher at the Ethical Culture School (1901). It ws here he began to work with photography. He began using a camera as an educational tool and started photographing school events.
Hine joined a project to photograph Ellis Island (1904). This was the high point of immigration to America. Huge numbers of Europeans from eastern and southern Europe had flowed into the United States. Ellis Island in New York City harbor became the main entry point. Anti-immigrant sentiment by the turn of the century was prevalent. Hine sought to portray the immigrants as they entered America. Hein's images portray the new Americans with dignity and respect.
With the Ellis Island experience, Hine decided on an entirelt new career, in fact an entirely new profession--sociological photography (1906). He sought freelance assignments with the National Child Labor Committee. The NCLC gave him his first assignment (1907). The assignment was to photograph New York tenement homework. This meant the pievework families did in their tenaments. The NCLC was more than pleasedcwith his work and hired him with a monthly salary (1908). He was assigned to document child labor practices with his photographs. At the time there were few restrictins on child labor. Hine for the next few years traveked all over the United States photographing children where evervhe found them working, in mines, factories, canneries, textile mills, street trades and assorted agricultural industries. Hine's photographs brought the problem to public attention in away that a sttistical study never could. He clearly showed how child labor was depriving American children of their childhood, health, education and a chance of a future. His work on this project was the driving force behind changing publics opinion. His photographs were critical in the fight for real child labor laws, including the importantvstep of Federal legislation.
Lewis Hine is one of the most notable photographers to use the medium to promote social reform. He was not the first photographer to exploit the medium for social causes. He was, however, one of the photograohers to use it most effectively. Some of his most powerful images are of immigrants taken on Ellis Island. It is interesting to note how they were dressed on entering America from Europe at the turn of the century. The sailor suit was a prominent garment. Perhaps even more importantly, Hine's documentation of child workers were instrumental in effecting the labor reforms. His captions for his photographs provide a wealth of information about the working conditions, incomes, ages, sizes, and lives of the children that he photographed. Most of the images of the child workers show them wearing either kneepants or overalls. Hine worked as an investigative photographer for the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC), documenting working and living conditions
of children in the United States during 1908-21.
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