NEWSBOYS SMOKING (DETAIL)

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LEWIS HINE

Genre: Documentary

Date: 1910

Location: St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Format: Large format ‘At the end of the 19th century and into the 20th, child labour was common across the United States. Children worked in factories and mines and on farms, fields and the streets – a consequence of the country’s burgeoning industry. Meagre pay, coupled with poor treatment and substandard working conditions, put child labor, many felt, on a par with slavery. The National Child Labour Committee (NCLC) was founded in 1904 and pushed for reform, with Lewis Hine (1874-1940), a teacher who had a background in sociology, joining its ranks four years later. Driven by the belief that photographs could be used as tools for social change, Hine created around 5,000 images documenting children at work. Many of his photographs portray working and living conditions where little or no consideration is given to the children’s safety or well-being. The widespread dissemination of images such as this, of pre-adolescents taking a break from work outside a pool hall, persuaded the American public to reconsider its attitudes to child labour. Hine’s work helped to inspire the Keating-Owen Child Labor Act of 1916, which sought to restrict the exploitation of young people.’ (GPbyd)

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