Breaking The Rules

Renée Michelle Trecroce 

Lewis Hines

Lewis was able to start a social revolution through his photos. He was very passionate about human rights and was the main photographer for the national consumer law center, an organization that focused on ending child labor. For over a decade the NCLC used his photos as a way of informing the public of the injustices that were happening around them. Lewis was very dedicated in his work; he often dressed up and tricked his way into factories in order to get the perfect shot of the children at work.  The publication of Lewis’s photos was the first of their kind and shocking to the public and started the movement towards labor laws. 

Lewis travelled all over America to take his photos. What made Lewis’s photographs so power was the story behind them. Like a journalist Lewis had written a few sentences describing the atmosphere and the person being photographed.  The photos taken in the factories show just how dirty and dangerous the working conditions are. Most of the time they gave the children the hardest and most dangerous jobs. Due to their size they were able to fit into machine and fit very small-complicated parts. Through Lewis’s photos people could clearly see that having a job as a child deprives children of their childhood and an education. Lewis was famous for capturing the emotion of his subject. The intense feeling of seriousness and sadness that the children give off makes the viewer feel sympathy and the want for change.

The mill

 When he travelled to Augusta, Georgia he visited a Cotton Mill factory where he took many photos of spinners as young as 5.  The girl in these photos worked at the mill full-time.

The newsies

On the streets of St. Louis Mo. boys as young as 5 can be found selling the daily newspapers. The boys exposed to the life on the streets adapt to survive. 

The seafood workers

In Biloxi, Mississippi 5 year old Manuel works from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm. He works along side his dad and starting working when he was 4. He does not know a single word of English.

My Photos 

I used my little brother to recreate Lewis Hines work. Lewis very famous for his ability to capture emotion, each child shows the effects of child labor. The first of the three photos is suppose to show seriousness, like the 5 year old boy working in the seafood industry. Lewis showed the world that a child that has a fulltime job misses out on their childhood. The children he photographed carry themselves like adults because they are given to same amount of responsibility. The second photo displays hostility, like the newsies working on the streets. Lewis shows that the work environment forces kids to grow up. In this cause the kids adapted to the work environment of the street, they behave like hostile adults and pick up the same habits, like smoking. The last photo shows longing. Inspired by the little spinner girl in the cotton mill, Lewis is able to capture the burden felt when having a fulltime job as a child. I also tried to recreate the use of walls to create a depth of field and did a portrait, since they can be found a lot in Lewis’s portfolio.   

Seriousness 

Hostility 

Longing