Lewis Hine - various websites and books - One good example of how artists help change society and how it operates. Hine was photographing child laborers around 1908 and his photos helped enact child labor laws.
The interesting and almost sad thing about 1908 is that more people were far more active than people today. Life was less convenient for everyone: backbreaking labor was typical. Even with this kind of effort families could barely afford a decent meal. Thinking back to a course I took last winter at Mott, I remember a section from the course book of historical documents throughout American history, Thinking Through the Past by John Hollitz. Even though the chart (pg. 28-35) itself displays data from 1884, it still illustrates conditions that some if not most urban families were experiencing in 1908, with the exception of those on the bungalow bandwagon. The families in the study made roughly between $200 and $700, with the exception of a few cases that earned more than $700. However in mostly all of the cases, at least half (sometimes all) of the earnings went to living expenses alone and families had little or no surplus to save. In this study, the teenaged sons (14 to 16 year olds) were contributing members as well as their fathers.
In America today, fathers and sons generally don’t have to work 10+ hours a day just to survive. One reason why this is: welfare. More reasons why this is: there are governmental programs like minimal wage, and so much need-based financial aid for college students. There are more outlets that I can think of to alleviate tough times for families. Most people today don’t seem to feel too fulfilled. Maybe introducing some manual struggle would ignite a sense of national pride? It is scary to think of who would be the one to perform the introduction: the advertising monstrosity has no intention of advising people to do what they don’t want to. But one marking and design problem they could contemplate when the time is right: how do you convince the public to invest into something or idea that is not going to immediately gratifying and immediately unpleasant? Someone can figure this out I am sure.
All artists, photographers or otherwise, should be inspired by the work of Lewis Hine. Not only was he an extremely talented artist; he used his skills to effect change in his society, and succeeded in it. Hine started as a teacher in New York City, and along with his students he traveled to Ellis Island to document immigrants coming into the country. He went on to work for the National Child Labor Committee, and his photographs of child labor helped expose the terrible child labor practices that were occurring inside many factories in the country. They also played a part in changing the child labor laws in the U.S., which is quite a strong impact for a photographer to have. This brings to mind the film director Errol Morris and his documentary The Thin Blue Line, which was about a man sentenced to death for a murder he was not actually guilty of. As a result of the film’s success, the man’s conviction was overturned and he was released from jail.
Stories like Hine’s and Morris’s give me hope, because they show how the work of artists actually have the potential to make a mark on society and change people’s lives. Often people consider art to be a pointless pastime, or a trivial attempt to “beautify” the world, but I think art can be so much more than this. It can cause very significant change, such as in the two cases I have mentioned, but it can also affect one person in a way that many other things cannot. I think that good art causes people (whether it’s the artist himself or the viewers) to grow, become more educated, improve, and be inspired to act.
Lewis Wickes Hine was an American sociologist and photographer, best known for his insightful portraits of immigrants at Ellis Island and child laborers between 1904 and 1909. He’s vocation as photojournalism has helped to view the working conditions of children and helped immensely National Child Labor Committee in lobbying to end child labor. Hine used his camera as a tool for social reform, a medium to deliver powerful message to people who are unaware of the situation. His mastery of photograph was not only the mastery of art but greater skill causing a social reform that is remembered in history. As I read the story of Lewis Hine, I had even more conviction that art is more than creating something that looks beautiful but conveys meaningful message to greater audience to think for themselves.
Today, people complain about working eight-hour shifts, while many prefer just to live off of the government. Since work is no longer needed for survival, we can afford to be jobless and feel secure. Why is it hard to image a thirty year old man living in his parent’s basement, during the 20th century, playing X-box all, day? Not because X-box didn’t exist, but because that type of mentality was unacceptable. Lewis Hine’s photography documents much more than exploitation of children but also a society that differs highly from today’s. In 1908, the expected work ethic was much higher than it is now. Long hours and¬ little pay was a fact of life for everyone, even adolescents. It’s strange to consider this type of responsibility given to a six year-old, who today, would not even be left home alone. The notion of life as survival gave people motivation and the responsibility to provide for themselves even from a young age. Perhaps, today’s generally low work ethic is a result of an extreme opposite created by society. In 1908 we expected children to contribute to a family’s survival, while now in the 21st century many complain about taking out the trash. By all means, child labor was a complete exploitation of our children, but perhaps the notion of responsibility instilled at a young age encouraged independence as a lifestyle, instead of a choice.
It really stipulates my ability. You will know how Joe always talks about how I can change the world. I always doubt that whenever he says that. I doubt that if I have that much power. I doubt that if I know anything so I can inspire someone else. Child labor is thought very minor social issue and it is rarely happening. However, other countries still struggle through child labor. For example, Nike was accused by Pakistani child labor. Pakistani children get paid with only few cents and make massive amount of soccer balls. It has been like this for long time now. I mean, Was Lewis Hine not powerful enough to change the whole world? Does this show that Artists’ influence has limit to the whole globe? It is such a sad story to accept then. Her work is surely powerful. Kid looks very innocent, but lost simultaneously. She did a good job bringing her in the image and public together. In the matter of the mood, color, expression, she combined together very well.
For my last weekly blog entry on ADP 3 I want to discuss a point from lecture that stood out to me the most. The statement, one language goes extinct per month. Wow. I remember making up languages in elementary school and learning pig Latin. I think the lack of interest in language is strong in school curriculums. Many high schools only offer Spanish and French. My private Catholic high school also offered Latin. Although there is more opportunity for other languages in college many students often feel it is too late or they already know enough about another one other than English to want to learn another. There is a general decreased interest in other cultures since the media and many communication classes focus on our own. To understand others it is important to understand our own first; however, so we do not make the same mistakes others do that lead to decline we have to study them as well. It is a very confusing and complex process. To understand culture I think people need to better understand sociology and patterns.
In terms of the images of the child workers I think of my middle school social studies classes. These are the kinds of images that would be in history books or presented on a history channel episode on the 19th century or industrial revolution. Until they were presented for an art lecture class I never really saw them in terms of composition etc. but more as documentation. That would actually be really interesting to take the images from a history book and blow them up large scale and display them in a galley. I am not sure how people would interpret them without the pages of information and text. Or those could be added as well, and critical thinking questions. It would be an interesting play on the past and learning and how space affects viewing.
For my final statement I wanted to discuss a reoccurring thought that seems to have been inspired by several discussions periods. I feel that the majority of social and ethical issues we find prevalent in culture have only recently emerged. This makes me believe they are a direct result of social evolution as an altering of what humans were ultimately meant for. I find I am often going back and forth between what I know as societal norms opposed to pure human nature. For example it is only recently that humans have begun waiting to have offspring until an acceptable age has been reached and its only recently that women’s bodies have become a topic of taboo. These types of issues make me wonder if we have evolved based upon a knowledge that proves more sustainable for the human race or if we have simply shaped society into a collectively ‘tasteful and cultured’ people as a hangover from the puritan Catholicism. Are we Evolving for the sake of evolution?
One of the reasons Lewis Hine was so successful in making political change is because he photographed a part of reality that people of that time did not see as unjust. But somehow, when these images were displayed and printed out, the context became much different. We see things differently depending on whether we’re looking at them in a photo or if we are actually living in it. I think it’s important to take the time and really look at our surroundings. We may not want to question them because it is a part of our daily lives, but we need to in order to realize what is truly their and what we are truly a part of. For example, I am sitting by a computer right now, typing up this blog post. I wouldn’t have thought this was any big deal at all, because all of my classmates have had to do the same thing, and I am in a computer lab where dozens of other students are also on computers. Now, looking at this from a different angle, I am contributing to the over use of electricity, I am only focusing on a screen instead of the actual people I am next to, and I am hooked into a digital data base that has nothing to do with saving the environment. It’s really important to notice these things. It’s necessary to unplug ourselves, and make the distinction of what we are doing and how it is actually affecting things. Lewis Hine was able to do this, and therefore is not only a successful political artist, but a in-depth person who is willing to see the whole picture.
The interesting and almost sad thing about 1908 is that more people were far more active than people today. Life was less convenient for everyone: backbreaking labor was typical. Even with this kind of effort families could barely afford a decent meal. Thinking back to a course I took last winter at Mott, I remember a section from the course book of historical documents throughout American history, Thinking Through the Past by John Hollitz. Even though the chart (pg. 28-35) itself displays data from 1884, it still illustrates conditions that some if not most urban families were experiencing in 1908, with the exception of those on the bungalow bandwagon. The families in the study made roughly between $200 and $700, with the exception of a few cases that earned more than $700. However in mostly all of the cases, at least half (sometimes all) of the earnings went to living expenses alone and families had little or no surplus to save. In this study, the teenaged sons (14 to 16 year olds) were contributing members as well as their fathers.
ReplyDeleteIn America today, fathers and sons generally don’t have to work 10+ hours a day just to survive. One reason why this is: welfare. More reasons why this is: there are governmental programs like minimal wage, and so much need-based financial aid for college students. There are more outlets that I can think of to alleviate tough times for families. Most people today don’t seem to feel too fulfilled. Maybe introducing some manual struggle would ignite a sense of national pride? It is scary to think of who would be the one to perform the introduction: the advertising monstrosity has no intention of advising people to do what they don’t want to. But one marking and design problem they could contemplate when the time is right: how do you convince the public to invest into something or idea that is not going to immediately gratifying and immediately unpleasant? Someone can figure this out I am sure.
grammar edit,
ReplyDelete"...that is not going to immediately gratifying but immediately unpleasant?"
All artists, photographers or otherwise, should be inspired by the work of Lewis Hine. Not only was he an extremely talented artist; he used his skills to effect change in his society, and succeeded in it. Hine started as a teacher in New York City, and along with his students he traveled to Ellis Island to document immigrants coming into the country. He went on to work for the National Child Labor Committee, and his photographs of child labor helped expose the terrible child labor practices that were occurring inside many factories in the country. They also played a part in changing the child labor laws in the U.S., which is quite a strong impact for a photographer to have. This brings to mind the film director Errol Morris and his documentary The Thin Blue Line, which was about a man sentenced to death for a murder he was not actually guilty of. As a result of the film’s success, the man’s conviction was overturned and he was released from jail.
ReplyDeleteStories like Hine’s and Morris’s give me hope, because they show how the work of artists actually have the potential to make a mark on society and change people’s lives. Often people consider art to be a pointless pastime, or a trivial attempt to “beautify” the world, but I think art can be so much more than this. It can cause very significant change, such as in the two cases I have mentioned, but it can also affect one person in a way that many other things cannot. I think that good art causes people (whether it’s the artist himself or the viewers) to grow, become more educated, improve, and be inspired to act.
Lewis Wickes Hine was an American sociologist and photographer, best known for his insightful portraits of immigrants at Ellis Island and child laborers between 1904 and 1909. He’s vocation as photojournalism has helped to view the working conditions of children and helped immensely National Child Labor Committee in lobbying to end child labor. Hine used his camera as a tool for social reform, a medium to deliver powerful message to people who are unaware of the situation. His mastery of photograph was not only the mastery of art but greater skill causing a social reform that is remembered in history. As I read the story of Lewis Hine, I had even more conviction that art is more than creating something that looks beautiful but conveys meaningful message to greater audience to think for themselves.
ReplyDeleteToday, people complain about working eight-hour shifts, while many prefer just to live off of the government. Since work is no longer needed for survival, we can afford to be jobless and feel secure. Why is it hard to image a thirty year old man living in his parent’s basement, during the 20th century, playing X-box all, day? Not because X-box didn’t exist, but because that type of mentality was unacceptable.
ReplyDeleteLewis Hine’s photography documents much more than exploitation of children but also a society that differs highly from today’s. In 1908, the expected work ethic was much higher than it is now. Long hours and¬ little pay was a fact of life for everyone, even adolescents. It’s strange to consider this type of responsibility given to a six year-old, who today, would not even be left home alone. The notion of life as survival gave people motivation and the responsibility to provide for themselves even from a young age.
Perhaps, today’s generally low work ethic is a result of an extreme opposite created by society. In 1908 we expected children to contribute to a family’s survival, while now in the 21st century many complain about taking out the trash.
By all means, child labor was a complete exploitation of our children, but perhaps the notion of responsibility instilled at a young age encouraged independence as a lifestyle, instead of a choice.
It really stipulates my ability. You will know how Joe always talks about how I can change the world. I always doubt that whenever he says that. I doubt that if I have that much power. I doubt that if I know anything so I can inspire someone else.
ReplyDeleteChild labor is thought very minor social issue and it is rarely happening. However, other countries still struggle through child labor. For example, Nike was accused by Pakistani child labor. Pakistani children get paid with only few cents and make massive amount of soccer balls. It has been like this for long time now. I mean, Was Lewis Hine not powerful enough to change the whole world? Does this show that Artists’ influence has limit to the whole globe? It is such a sad story to accept then.
Her work is surely powerful. Kid looks very innocent, but lost simultaneously. She did a good job bringing her in the image and public together. In the matter of the mood, color, expression, she combined together very well.
For my last weekly blog entry on ADP 3 I want to discuss a point from lecture that stood out to me the most. The statement, one language goes extinct per month. Wow. I remember making up languages in elementary school and learning pig Latin. I think the lack of interest in language is strong in school curriculums. Many high schools only offer Spanish and French. My private Catholic high school also offered Latin. Although there is more opportunity for other languages in college many students often feel it is too late or they already know enough about another one other than English to want to learn another. There is a general decreased interest in other cultures since the media and many communication classes focus on our own. To understand others it is important to understand our own first; however, so we do not make the same mistakes others do that lead to decline we have to study them as well. It is a very confusing and complex process. To understand culture I think people need to better understand sociology and patterns.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of the images of the child workers I think of my middle school social studies classes. These are the kinds of images that would be in history books or presented on a history channel episode on the 19th century or industrial revolution. Until they were presented for an art lecture class I never really saw them in terms of composition etc. but more as documentation. That would actually be really interesting to take the images from a history book and blow them up large scale and display them in a galley. I am not sure how people would interpret them without the pages of information and text. Or those could be added as well, and critical thinking questions. It would be an interesting play on the past and learning and how space affects viewing.
For my final statement I wanted to discuss a reoccurring thought that seems to have been inspired by several discussions periods. I feel that the majority of social and ethical issues we find prevalent in culture have only recently emerged. This makes me believe they are a direct result of social evolution as an altering of what humans were ultimately meant for. I find I am often going back and forth between what I know as societal norms opposed to pure human nature. For example it is only recently that humans have begun waiting to have offspring until an acceptable age has been reached and its only recently that women’s bodies have become a topic of taboo. These types of issues make me wonder if we have evolved based upon a knowledge that proves more sustainable for the human race or if we have simply shaped society into a collectively ‘tasteful and cultured’ people as a hangover from the puritan Catholicism.
ReplyDeleteAre we Evolving for the sake of evolution?
One of the reasons Lewis Hine was so successful in making political change is because he photographed a part of reality that people of that time did not see as unjust. But somehow, when these images were displayed and printed out, the context became much different. We see things differently depending on whether we’re looking at them in a photo or if we are actually living in it. I think it’s important to take the time and really look at our surroundings. We may not want to question them because it is a part of our daily lives, but we need to in order to realize what is truly their and what we are truly a part of. For example, I am sitting by a computer right now, typing up this blog post. I wouldn’t have thought this was any big deal at all, because all of my classmates have had to do the same thing, and I am in a computer lab where dozens of other students are also on computers. Now, looking at this from a different angle, I am contributing to the over use of electricity, I am only focusing on a screen instead of the actual people I am next to, and I am hooked into a digital data base that has nothing to do with saving the environment. It’s really important to notice these things. It’s necessary to unplug ourselves, and make the distinction of what we are doing and how it is actually affecting things. Lewis Hine was able to do this, and therefore is not only a successful political artist, but a in-depth person who is willing to see the whole picture.
ReplyDelete