Lewis H. Hine was born on September 26, 1874 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He did not become interested in photography until later in his life. Hine was taught botany and nature studies at the Ethical Culture School in New York and was gifted with a camera. Hine was able to bring out dark events going on in America at the time and expose them, including child labor, immigrants on Ellis Island and workers on the Empire State Building,
Like many child labor photos, this child's expressions resemble an older man with worry strewn into his face. You can note that his clothes are in tatters and smudged with grime.
I cannot believe how terrible the working conditions must have been for these young children, such desperate times. I believe this image was in my history book last year and they were working underground to clear a tunnel for a train, this must be true because you can see tracks in the background. Without Hine's photos we could only image what the conditions were and not actually get a glimpse from the past.
I get scared just looking at this image! I really don't understand how this was allowed, but I'm glad that Hine captured this shot. If he hadn't maybe people would still be doing jobs like this today...
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