How Did Lewis Hine Using Photography To Change The World

In my opinion I believe that Lewis Hine was the most influential documentary photojournalist with educating the public and affecting social change. His documentary photographs help expose widespread child labor in the U. S. From 1907-1918 Hine, became a photographer for the National Child Labor Committee. The NCLC mission was "promoting the rights, awareness, dignity, well-being and education of children and youth as they relate to work and working" (loc.gov). There were child labor laws in place but were not followed out in rural areas. He would go undercover and obtain photographs of children along with their age, work conditions. He found children as young as 3 years of age working long hours in dangerous conditions. These photographs touched

Lewis Wickes Hine, from the beginning of his career at University of Chicago, where he looked himself as an artist, but he define his work as “social photography” in 1908 Charities advertisement, and he stated that his goal was “to offer graphic representation of conditions and methods of work.” (“Lewis W, Hine-Biography”, academic.uprm.edu).

As New York photographer James Maher quoted from A World History of Photography, “photographs used in campaigns for social reform not only provided truthful evidence but embodied a commitment to humanistic ideals” (361). Moreover, as shown in the article Documenting the Social Scene, the powerful photography that Hine and Riis have captured of immigrants encapsulate the need for change; furthering the separation of their photojournalism from illustrative and recreational art. From Hine documenting much of the practices of child labor, to Riis exposing the harsh living conditions of the Lower East Side of Manhattan, (Maher) both photographers comply to a code of ethics and sense of journalistic integrity— Riis and Hine showcase the truth behind the photos in a way that attempts to humanize the subjects on film as much as it attempts to engage a moral debate of the situations at hand. In addition, to exemplify the impact of photojournalism, we must consider the perspective of the Gilded Age

Born in 1934, Jerry Uelsmann grew up an inner city kid of Detroit. In high school, Uelsmann worked as an assistant for a photography studio; he eventually photographed weddings. Uelsmann went to Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) where he met Minor White, who “introduced [him] to the concept that photography could be used for self-expression” (Berman). While at RIT, he studied with Bruce Davidson, Peter Turner and Car Chiaraenza, with whom he held frequent discussions on how photography could be different. After RIT, Uelsmann went to Indiana University where he changed his degree to a Master of Fine Arts degree. He graduated with an M.S. and an M.F.A at Indiana University in 1960, where he studied with Henry Holmes Smith, who had

While emotions were extremely high in the sense of angst for a better life, photography provided a new sense of reality to Americans and for others around the World. Photography all around the World is unlike anything else of its kind. People are able to tell stories and elicit emotions that bring the audience to that desired response. Throughout the 1930’s, photography from governmental institutions or advancements alone brought a new beginning to the end of a terrible time that Americans all around the nation

Before starting this project, I knew very little about photography, photographers, or exactly how much impact photographical images have had on our society. I have never taken a photography class, or researched too in depth about specific pictures or photographers. This project has allowed me to delve deeper into the world of photography in order to understand just how much influence pictures can have over society’s beliefs, emotions, and understandings’. I have have chosen two highly influential photographers, Diane Arbus and Dorothea Lange, who I have found to both resonate with me and perfectly capture human emotions in way that moves others.

Lewis Hine was a photographer who took pictures of child labor. He went undercover at factories that had child labor and took pictures of the kids. When doing this, Lewis Hine had to be very sneaky, as the companies did not want their harsh conditions exposed. Lewis Hine worked hard to stop child labor. He worked for the National Child Labor Committee for about 10 years. Lewis Hine traveled and took pictures of child labor all around the country.

For some, a picture is just a beautiful work of art, but for Lewis Hine photography was a way to communicate a message to the world. When Hine was taught the photographic process, it was still being established. This being said, photojournalism was also just evolving as a method to visually communicate information. In an effort to better his photography skills, Hine began to photograph the immigrants of Ellis Island. He was very adamant about social reform and reflected this in his work. Lewis Hine’s captivating photos inspired social change in America for the less fortunate.

Sense the invention of the camera in 1826 photography has been used to document everything from family portraits, social injustice, sporting events, world news, expressions of joy and sorrow, and hundreds of monumental moments. The camera has given man the power to reveal the truth visually. Throughout history photographs have made enormous impacts on social consciousness and ultimately shaped public opinion on many pressing issues in society. Although photography is often considered a casual pastime, the invention of the camera has contributed to many aspects of history, science, and other important pieces of todays world.

When Italian Family, Ellis Island was taken in 1905, Lewis Wilkes Hine was only two years into his career as a “social activist and documentary photographer” and one year into his work on Ellis Island, having taken up photography in 1903 and started photographing immigrants in 1904 (Dimock). Hine's images from Ellis Island and those to follow were intended to invoke social change (Dimock). The Ellis Island photographs depicted European immigrants sympathetically at a time when “nativist and anti-foreigner attitudes” were prevalent in America, and it was that contrast that made Hine’s photographs so effective (Dimock). The color scheme is also characteristic of the times because the image was taken before color photography was common; in addition, Hine had to use primitive equipment for his Ellis Island photographs (Dimock). Ellis Island itself was also significant in the 1900s.

Photography, meaning “drawing with lights” in Greek, is an art as well as a science of capturing light and storing it on a medium with unprecedented accuracy. Yet, up until the late 18th century, history was mainly recorded through the techniques of painting and the press. These mediums unarguably contained a certain degree of a truth, though, it was not uncommon for events, such as war to be composed with glorified details, or an unfavorable bias from the artist at hand. Beginning in the 1830’s, cameras provided a revolutionary solution by combining the advancements in optics and chemistry. Consequently, the new medium of photography was established and forever changed how history would be visually captured. Unlike other methods, photography

During 1892, Lewis Hines graduated from high school and worked in an upholstery factory and in the next several years Hine worked several jobs while he was studying stenography, drawing, and sculpture. Hine eventually earned a Master’s degree in education from the University of Chicago. Hine’s first passion was not photography rather it was teaching. His first job was as a teacher at the Ethical Culture School in New York City. Hine’s had a friend named Frank Manny who was the one that convinced Lewis Hine to become the school photographer at the Ethical Culture School, where he gained technical skills (Hine, 11). Lewis Hine started off with a ten-dollar box camera and soon after set up a dark room at school that lead him to start an after school camera club, where he learned about art photography along the students (Freedman, 9). According to the book “Crusade for the Children,” by 1908 Hine spent several years as an amateur, photographing immigrants, Bowery inhabitants, and Lower Eastside hovel children. Soon after Hine quit teaching because he was interested in portraying the difficulty of the poor (Trattner, 105). Hine spent some time working for The survey magazine but later was hired by the National Child Labor Committee by 1906 Hine started work on a freelance basis (105). According to the book “Kids at work,” by 1908, by the time he left the Ethical Culture School,

The goal of the Progressive movement was to advance American society and make life better by making others aware of problems in society. Several actions were taken to accomplish this goal. For example, both working and living conditions were dreadful, and something had to be done. This prompted people to expose the negative aspects in America and make society better as a whole. These types of people were called “muckrakers,” who focus attention on social conditions by searching out and publicly exposing corruption, misconduct, and delinquency of people or businesses. One of these actions taken was taking photographs of these conditions. Jacob Riis took photographs of the conditions of tenements (where poor people were forced to live) in his book, “How the Other Half Lives.” The photos illustrated how these poor families were living in such cramped and dirty conditions. His motivation for capturing these pictures was to show wealthy people how horrifying this truly was. In addition, from 1908 to 1912, another photographer, Lewis Hine took his camera across America to photograph children as young as three years old working for long hours, often under dangerous conditions, in factories, mines, and fields. Overall, the actions taken by Riis and Hine contributed to the Progressive

Henry Peach Robinson, born on July 9th, 1830, was a British photographer and prominent author on photography. Known as “the King of Photographic Picture Making,” he began his life’s work as a painter but would become one of the most influential photographers of the late 19th century. He was a prolific advocate for photography as an art form and is well known for his role in “pictorialism,” which, according to Encyclopedia Britannica, is “an approach to photography that emphasizes beauty of subject matter, tonality, and composition rather than the documentation of reality.”

Since its inception, photography has been used to capture moments in time all around the world. This wonderful technology has existed since ancient times, and has only improved in recent history, changing society in the process.