By Walther Peter
Peter Walther, 2018
Lewis W. Hine (1874-1940) profoundly influenced the perception of early 20th-century American working life. Combining his background in education with a humanist perspective, Hine pioneered the use of photography as a documentary tool. His work focused on labor conditions, housing, and immigrants, with iconic images of child labor in mills, factories, and mines significantly contributing to labor law reforms in the United States.
This book presents a representative selection of Hine's photography across his career. It includes his early social-documentary projects, later artistic works, and notable series on the construction of the Empire State Building, exploring the relationship between humans and machines in an industrializing society.