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'''Lewis Wickes Hine''' (September 26, 1874 – November 3, 1940) was an [[United States|American]] [[sociology|sociologist]] and [[photographer]]. Hine used his camera as a tool for social reform. His photographs were instrumental in changing the [[child labor law]]s in the United States.<ref>[http://www.morningsonmaplestreet.com/aboutlewishine.html The Lewis Hine Project] retrieved October 15, 2009</ref>
'''Lewis Wickes Hine''' (September 26, 1874 – November 3, 1940) was an [[United States|American]] [[sociology|sociologist]] and [[photographer]]. Hine used his camera as a tool for social reform. His photographs were instrumental in changing the [[child labor law]]s in the United States.<ref>[http://www.morningsonmaplestreet.com/aboutlewishine.html The Lewis Hine Project] retrieved October 15, 2009</ref>

==Early life==
Lewis W. Hine was born in [[Oshkosh, Wisconsin]] in 1874. After his father died in an accident, he began working and saved his money for a college education. Hine studied [[sociology]] at the [[University of Chicago]], [[Columbia University]] and [[New York University]]. He became a teacher in [[New York City]] at the [[Ethical Culture School]], where he encouraged his students to use [[photography]] as an educational medium.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Smith-Shank | first = Deborah L. | year = 2003 | month = March | title = Lewis Hine and His Photo Stories: Visual Culture and Social Reform | journal = Art Education | volume = 56 | issue = 2 | pages = 33–37 | issn = 0004-3125 | oclc = 96917501 }}</ref> The classes traveled to [[Ellis Island]] in [[New York Harbor]], photographing the thousands of immigrants who arrived each day. Between 1904 and 1909, Hine took over 200 plates (photographs), and eventually came to the realization that his vocation was photojournalism.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.nypl.org/research/chss/spe/art/photo/hinex/empire/biography.html | title = About Lewis Wickes Hine | publisher = New York Public Library | accessdate = 2007-05-22 | first = Anthony T | last = Troncale |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20070308123219/http://www.nypl.org/research/chss/spe/art/photo/hinex/empire/biography.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archivedate = 2007-03-08}}</ref><nowiki></nowiki>

==Photojournalism==
[[File:Baseball glass workers2.jpg|right|200px|thumb|[[Baseball]] team composed mostly of child laborers from a glassmaking factory. Indiana, August 1908.]]
[[Image:AddieCard05282vLewisHine.jpg|thumb|200px|right|"Addie Card, 12 years. Spinner in North Pormal (i.e., [[Pownal, Vermont|Pownal]]) Cotton Mill. Vt.", 1910.<ref>[http://www.morningsonmaplestreet.com/addiesearch1.html Addie Card: Search For An Amemic Little Spinner, Chapter One] retrieved October 15, 2009</ref>]]
[[File:Raising the Mast Empire State Building by Lewis W Hine.jpeg|thumb|right|200px|''Raising the Mast, [[Empire State Building]]'', 1932.]]

In 1906, Hine became the staff photographer of the [[Russell Sage Foundation]]. Here Hine photographed life in the steel-making districts and people of [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]], for the influential sociological study called the Pittsburg Survey. In 1908, he became the photographer for the [[National Child Labor Committee|National Child Labor Committee (NCLC)]], leaving his teaching position. Over the next decade, Hine documented child labor in American industry to aid the NCLC's lobbying efforts to end the practice.<ref>''The American Quarterly'', Lewis Hine:From "Social" to "Interpretive" Photographer by Peter Seixas</ref>

[[File:Midnight at the glassworks2b.jpg|thumb|left|Child laborers in glassworks. Indiana, 1908]]

During and after [[World War I]], he photographed [[American Red Cross]] relief work in Europe. In the 1920s and early 1930s, Hine made a series of "work portraits," which emphasized the human contribution to modern industry. In 1930, Hine was commissioned to document the construction of [[The Empire State Building]]. Hine photographed the workers in precarious positions while they secured the iron and steel framework of the structure, taking many of the same risks the workers endured. In order to obtain the best vantage points, Hine was swung out in a specially designed basket 1,000 feet above Fifth Avenue.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.nypl.org/research/chss/spe/art/photo/hinex/empire/about.html | title = Facts about the Empire State Building | publisher = New York Public Library | accessdate = 2007-05-22 | first = Anthony T | last = Troncale }}</ref>

During the [[Great Depression]], he again worked for the Red Cross, photographing drought relief in the American South, and for the [[Tennessee Valley Authority]] (TVA), documenting life in the mountains of eastern Tennessee. He also served as chief photographer for the [[Works Progress Administration]]'s (WPA) National Research Project, which studied changes in industry and their effect on employment. Hine was also a member of the faculty of the [[Ethical Culture Fieldston School]].

The [[Library of Congress]] holds more than five thousand Hine photographs, including examples of his child labor and Red Cross photographs, his work portraits, and his WPA and TVA images. Other large institutional collections include nearly ten thousand of Hine's photographs and negatives held at the [[George Eastman House]] and almost five thousand NCLC photographs<ref>[http://aok.lib.umbc.edu/specoll/digitcoll.php AOK/lib.umbc.edu]</ref> at the Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery of the [[University of Maryland, Baltimore County]].

==Later life of Lewis Hine==
In 1936, Hine was selected as the photographer for the National Research Project of the Works Projects Administration, but his work there was never completed.

The last years of his life were filled with professional struggles due to loss of government and corporate patronage. Few people were interested in his work, past or present, and Hine lost his house and applied for welfare. He died at age 66 on November 3, 1940 at Dobbs Ferry Hospital in [[Dobbs Ferry, New York]], after an operation.<ref>''[[The New York Times]]''; November 4, 1940; [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30D11FF3C5C10728DDDAD0894D9415B8088F1D3 "Lewis W. Hine; Photographer Whose Pictures Showed Conditions in Factories"] p. 19</ref>

After Lewis Hine's death his son Corydon donated his prints and negatives to the Photo League, which was dismantled in 1951. The [[Museum of Modern Art]] was offered his pictures but did not accept them; but the [[George Eastman House]] in [[Rochester, New York]] did.<ref name="NYT1">{{cite news | first=Vicki | last=Goldberg | coauthors= |authorlink= | title=The new season / Photography: critic's choice; A Career That Moved From Man to Machine | date=1998-09-13 | publisher=The New York Times | url =http://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/13/arts/new-season-photography-critic-s-choice-career-that-moved-man-machine.html | work =The New York Times | pages = | accessdate = 2010-10-25 }}</ref>


==Notable photographs==
==Notable photographs==

Revision as of 17:50, 18 November 2011

"Power house mechanic working on steam pump," 1920

Lewis Wickes Hine (September 26, 1874 – November 3, 1940) was an American sociologist and photographer. Hine used his camera as a tool for social reform. His photographs were instrumental in changing the child labor laws in the United States.[1]

Early life

Lewis W. Hine was born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in 1874. After his father died in an accident, he began working and saved his money for a college education. Hine studied sociology at the University of Chicago, Columbia University and New York University. He became a teacher in New York City at the Ethical Culture School, where he encouraged his students to use photography as an educational medium.[2] The classes traveled to Ellis Island in New York Harbor, photographing the thousands of immigrants who arrived each day. Between 1904 and 1909, Hine took over 200 plates (photographs), and eventually came to the realization that his vocation was photojournalism.[3]

Photojournalism

Baseball team composed mostly of child laborers from a glassmaking factory. Indiana, August 1908.
"Addie Card, 12 years. Spinner in North Pormal (i.e., Pownal) Cotton Mill. Vt.", 1910.[4]
Raising the Mast, Empire State Building, 1932.

In 1906, Hine became the staff photographer of the Russell Sage Foundation. Here Hine photographed life in the steel-making districts and people of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for the influential sociological study called the Pittsburg Survey. In 1908, he became the photographer for the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC), leaving his teaching position. Over the next decade, Hine documented child labor in American industry to aid the NCLC's lobbying efforts to end the practice.[5]

Child laborers in glassworks. Indiana, 1908

During and after World War I, he photographed American Red Cross relief work in Europe. In the 1920s and early 1930s, Hine made a series of "work portraits," which emphasized the human contribution to modern industry. In 1930, Hine was commissioned to document the construction of The Empire State Building. Hine photographed the workers in precarious positions while they secured the iron and steel framework of the structure, taking many of the same risks the workers endured. In order to obtain the best vantage points, Hine was swung out in a specially designed basket 1,000 feet above Fifth Avenue.[6]

During the Great Depression, he again worked for the Red Cross, photographing drought relief in the American South, and for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), documenting life in the mountains of eastern Tennessee. He also served as chief photographer for the Works Progress Administration's (WPA) National Research Project, which studied changes in industry and their effect on employment. Hine was also a member of the faculty of the Ethical Culture Fieldston School.

The Library of Congress holds more than five thousand Hine photographs, including examples of his child labor and Red Cross photographs, his work portraits, and his WPA and TVA images. Other large institutional collections include nearly ten thousand of Hine's photographs and negatives held at the George Eastman House and almost five thousand NCLC photographs[7] at the Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Later life of Lewis Hine

In 1936, Hine was selected as the photographer for the National Research Project of the Works Projects Administration, but his work there was never completed.

The last years of his life were filled with professional struggles due to loss of government and corporate patronage. Few people were interested in his work, past or present, and Hine lost his house and applied for welfare. He died at age 66 on November 3, 1940 at Dobbs Ferry Hospital in Dobbs Ferry, New York, after an operation.[8]

After Lewis Hine's death his son Corydon donated his prints and negatives to the Photo League, which was dismantled in 1951. The Museum of Modern Art was offered his pictures but did not accept them; but the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York did.[9]

Notable photographs

  • Child Labor: Girls in Factory (1908)
  • Breaker Boys (1910)[10]
  • Steam Fitter (1920)
  • Workers, Empire State Building (1931)

See also

  • House Calls, a documentary about physician and photographer Mark Nowaczynski, who was inspired by Hine to photograph elderly patients.[11]
  • Kate Sampsell-Willmann, Lewis Hine as Social Critic (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2009).

References

  1. ^ The Lewis Hine Project retrieved October 15, 2009
  2. ^ Smith-Shank, Deborah L. (2003). "Lewis Hine and His Photo Stories: Visual Culture and Social Reform". Art Education. 56 (2): 33–37. ISSN 0004-3125. OCLC 96917501. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  3. ^ Troncale, Anthony T. "About Lewis Wickes Hine". New York Public Library. Archived from the original on 2007-03-08. Retrieved 2007-05-22.
  4. ^ Addie Card: Search For An Amemic Little Spinner, Chapter One retrieved October 15, 2009
  5. ^ The American Quarterly, Lewis Hine:From "Social" to "Interpretive" Photographer by Peter Seixas
  6. ^ Troncale, Anthony T. "Facts about the Empire State Building". New York Public Library. Retrieved 2007-05-22.
  7. ^ AOK/lib.umbc.edu
  8. ^ The New York Times; November 4, 1940; "Lewis W. Hine; Photographer Whose Pictures Showed Conditions in Factories" p. 19
  9. ^ Goldberg, Vicki (1998-09-13). "The new season / Photography: critic's choice; A Career That Moved From Man to Machine". The New York Times. The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-10-25. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  10. ^ Breaker Boys (Life Magazine)
  11. ^ Brett-MacLean, Pamela (2007-05-27). "The elderly patient: in situ". CMAJ. Canadian Medical Association. Retrieved 2009-04-07.
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