My internet research took me to the The History Place where many of Hine's images can be found. The original photo captions that accompanied the photographs are displayed. The portraits of the child factory workers are quite harrowing to look at. Even though the children are posed quite formally this somehow adds to the sense of despair when the captions are read. In many cases, some arrangement of the composition has taken place (the girl beside the window for example) and sometimes the text can be quite descriptive, even sentimental, in it's attempt to (quite rightly) influence opinion.
Hine had to use stealth to make these images - entering the factory premises under the guise of photographing machinery and equipment. Once he had the trust of mills owners and workers he would set up and surreptitiously get some of the children to stand by the machines. This is not to say that the children's situations have been faked. They clearly do work at the factory under terrible conditions. It is merely that the scenarios under which the children worked had to be staged as Hine would never have been allowed to make those photographs.
Individual child portraits where the subject occupies most of the image have been taken with a narrow depth of field. This throws the background out of focus and allows the viewer to fully scrutinise the child's face - quite an effective technique once the viewer is aware of the individuals name and working conditions. It is possible of course that Hine had little control over his choice of aperture due to working inside and the limitations of camera technology at that time.
BBC news magazine has a video piece on Hine that discusses not only his child factory images but also Newsies (young boys, and sometimes, girls) that roamed the city streets with bundles of newspapers for sale. Alison Nordstrom, curator of photographs of George Eastman House speaks about Hine's work in the video. Nordstrum states that, '[Hine] saw himself as someone who was contributing to social change.' and that 'Most people did not believe that child labour existed or was a problem. His first job was to assemble evidence.' Nordstrum (2014).
Hines images were taken at a time before social documentary photography had even been defined. Nordstrum goes on to say that labour was Hine's core subject and that the child photos could be considered as an example of bad labour; whereas the iconic Empire State building images (good labour) could be seen as showing the workers in a heroic light as man constructs the tallest building in the world in defiance of the 1930s depression.
Jacob Riis (1849 - 1914)
At first glance the images of Riis appear different from those of Hine in that they look less posed and could be considered more authentic. Riis used magnesium flash powder to light the interiors of tenement slum houses and outdoor scenes at night. The popular story surrounding these images are that Riis would move around in the dark, suddenly capturing the unwary subject by the illumination of his flashlight, before hurriedly moving on.
That may well be the case. But, other images (particularly the children around a barrel, below) look very staged to my eyes. The child on the left is half smiling. It is obvious that, for them, the act of being photographed is part of an amusing game. Like Hine, Riis asked people to pose in certain ways. Many of the images are not candid.
Riis worked as a police reporter and later as a photojournalist. He would have been fully aware of how to present an image or story in a way that would effectively communicate his intent. 'His magic lantern shows used drama to create a virtual reality in the lecture hall. Viewers moaned and shuddered and spoke to the people in the photographs'. Spartacus Educational.com (2012).
Riis book, 'How the Other Half Lives' was intended to present the poor as victims rather than the makers of their fate. His message was that people living in these conditions could become criminals or degenerate and it was the responsibility of society and government to alleviate their plight.
Professor Sharia Diner gives a talk for the NY Public School teachers on Riis (video below). Professor Diner argues that Riis pays no attention to the fact that the vast majority of immigrants did not end up as victims of their plight. Far from being a black pit of degradation as the images show. They have been selectively chosen for this effect leaving out the fact that immigrants belonged to churches, family societies, unions, and indeed were often sending money back home to relatives. Professor diner has pointed out that 'One third of all the money circulating in Ireland [at this time] came from the United States'. NYU Steinhart (2010).
History in the classroom A resource and interview with Professor Hasia Diner. A critique on the work of Jacob Riis.
The book 'How the Other Half Lives' was intended, just like the staged factory images of Hine to awaken the social conscience of the middle classes and wealthy philanthropists - to make them realise that they had a responsibility to the poor.
In summing up the styles of the two photographers appear, at times, very different. Hines work can be seen as more formal while Riis work sometimes seems a bit sensational. That both sets of images are often staged shows that the process is similar but with different stylistic outcomes. What finally aligns the two sets of work is their intent in highlighting to wealthier sections of society the need for social reform.
References:
The History Place. (2014) [online] Available from: http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/ [Accessed 24th July 2014]
Nordstrum, A. (2012) [online] Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17673213
[Accessed 24th July 2014]
NYU Steinhart (2010) [online] Available from: http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/historyintheclassroom/jacobriis [accessed 25th July 2014]
Spartacus Education.com (2013) [online] Available from: http://spartacus-educational.com/USAriis.htm [Accessed 25th July 2014]
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