Bay St. Louis, Miss., March 1911

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Lewis Hine, considered by many to be the father of modern social documentary photography, spent more than a decade as the official photographer for the National Child Labor Committee. Between 1908 and 1921, Hine photographed rural and urban child laborers across the country. The resulting images were used in NCLC pamphlets, exhibits, and magazine advertisements, and helped to transform the nation’s attitudes and policies on child labor and welfare. Hine wrote captions for most of his photos, incorporating facts about the people and places depicted, and often with direct quotes from his subjects. These original captions, where available, are given, unedited, in quotation marks below. “All these pick shrimp at the Oyster Co. I had to take photo while bosses were at dinner as they refused to permit the children to be in the photos. Out of 60 workers, 15 were apparently under 12 years.”

Keywords

Child laborers
Documentary
United States
Photography
Gelatin Silver