Period 6 -- Critical Analysis #8

11/9/2017

"Glassworks. Midnight. Location: Indiana." From a series of photographs of child labor at glass and bottle factories in the United States by Lewis W. Hine, for the National Child Labor Committee, New York.

Today you will be writing about this photograph made by Lewis Hine, a photographer and sociologist who used photography as a tool for social reform. His images of child laborers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries helped abolish child labor.

We will read together in class an article on Lewis Hine and the National Child Labor Committee. Then, you will write a 4 paragraph critical analysis of the photograph above.

Your analysis must be 4 paragraphs, 5 sentences minimum per paragraph. Remember to post your analysis as a comment to the blog post that corresponds to your class. If you post your analysis to the wrong class's post, it will not be graded.

If you do not complete your analysis in class, you must finish it for homework before your next class on FRIDAY, 11/10/17.

Refer to your "How to See" handout for analyzing a photograph--

Describe specifics.
Describe form.
Describe the content.
Evaluate the image

Your analyses will be graded on:

meeting minimum length requirements
depth of organization
evaluation of the content
grammar/punctuation

elizabeth wray

11/9/2017 12:31:24 pm

This image is about several kids that are working a night shift at a factory. They are forced laborers because they are under fifteen years of age. Since the picture was captured in the twenties, it is in black and white. The boys that are working seem to be looking at a window or just something in the light. It seems that life was very hard to be a kid in the 1920’s up until you were fifteen. The kids are wearing hats and overalls i'm guessing to keep them safe from getting injured or even killed by a machine.

The image is pleasing to look at but when you think about the image, you naturally imagine the kids working and how much pressure they must have had. They probably didn't eat much or slept at all. I highly doubt they had a good education, either. The main part of the image is two boys, around age 12, looking to the right at some sort of light. Maybe it's a metaphor saying that they want to be in the light, or free from all the work that they do.the machines re in the background and they look very deadly and scary. In the shadows, there is a man in uniform. The man is probably a supervisor to make sure the kids are constantly working. He is much older than the kids, near his 40’s or 50’s.

The theme of this image is the child workers in the 1920’s. The story here is explaining to the people that making these children work all night and day is just plain cruel. The people making them do this are very selfish. The image is interesting to me because it's crazy to think that there was actually a time like this where things that happened like this were plain normal to everyone. The children here were in such terrible conditions it's scary to imagine. They were forced to work with machines that actually killed some kids.

I like this picture as a picture because it is very nicely take. It represents the truth of how the kids worked. I don't like the theme of the image because kids should never have to work like that, ever. They should be getting an education in order to maybe work for their father's someday, when they are older. I think the photo is successful because lots of people finally realized the conditions these children had to face in the factories. They would be in those factories for excessive amounts of time.

Claire Williams

11/9/2017 12:31:25 pm

This image is of boys working in a factory. It is mainly portraying two boys and there are about 4 boys behind them. The first boy on the left of the two mainly portrayed has his arms crossed and the other one looks like he was working on something with both of his hands and then he turned his head to look at something that both of them are looking at. The whole room is fairly dark and everything, including the boys are very dirty. The main colors being used are black and white and it looks like there is a warm temperature. There are some dark shadows in the corner, and a bit of highlight in the middle bottom of the image where there is a table.

I don’t think this is very pleasing to look at, but it is a good image. Everything going on in the photo conflicts to me as I look at it. The two main subjects are splitting the middle and there is a boy sitting down towards the back of the room and he is in between them. It looks like the photographer took it from a normal point of view as he was standing up. Although the boys in the back are not very in focus, I think this exposure was taken using a deep depth of field. The back corner where the other boys are is dark and there is dust flying around everywhere. The pipes from the ceiling direct my eyes down at the two boys.

The main theme of this image is child labor. This whole project, made by Lewis Hine, was all about showing the horrible conditions of children working in industrial jobs. The story being told in this image is the fact that even though these boys don’t have the chance to go to school and play like normal children, they are still acting like boys in these horrible conditions. I don’t think that this is the story that the photographer wanted to show, and it might not be what other people think about it, but I think this was more of the hidden story. This exposure reminds me of the many other photographs I have seen throughout studying child labor in school.

I like this image because of how it really puts across a story. Sure, there are some parts that I dislike and maybe don’t understand, but overall this is a good photo portraying an important story. One part that I don’t like is just the fact that this was taken so long ago and in bad conditions to where it is not a very high quality. But at the same time, I realize that is how Lewis Hine wanted it to be because of him just taking all of these photographs for the reason of showing the rest of the country what was really going on and trying to put a stop to it. Overall, I think that this photograph was successful in both making me feel like I know these kids and sympathizing about what they had to do, and for showing the rest of the country the horrible things that were going on and making the government eventually put a stop to it.

boyd meltzer link

11/9/2017 12:31:47 pm

This image was shot in Indiana by Lewis Hine. It features two young boys working tirelessly in a glasswork factory. The environment around them appears to be unclean and cluttered. The children are wearing relatively similar clothing, and adults are working the same job behind them as the picture was taken. This photo is exposed in black and white due to the lack of color photography used in the 20s. The lighting is difficult to decipher in the foreground, but the background is very dark. One would barely be able to make out the people in the background. Many people are featured in this image, and they do not appear to be having a pleasant experience. However, the boys in the foreground are slightly smiling, I think. It is clear to see what is happening in the image, as the boys are working a dangerous job in a glass and bottle making factory. Work is going on around them.

This composition is displeasing to look at initially because of the color scheme. Secondly, this image captures the wrongful forced labor (some would call it slavery) during that time period. The people around the children are working the same dangerous job, so I feel sympathy for them too. The rule of thirds could be argued in this image, as both of the boys are not in the same section of the image but both are featured within the grid lines. The depth of field is deep, because it is easy to make out some of the other laborers’ faces. There are not enough lines featured in this image to determine if the artist intended for them to have a purpose or not. The subjects do not fill the frame, and there are other figures focused in the image.

The theme of this image is that of forced labor. I am sure that these children did not voluntarily take this job. They were forced into it by an outside influencer. This image attempts to tell their story and to enlighten the viewer about this situation. The viewer can infer as to what these boys’ situation was, and it makes the viewer sympathize with them. The artist made this image for that very reason. He wanted to enlighten the general public, often decei ving authority figures in order to capture these moments. Clearly he was not meant to be allowed into the areas where labor takes place.

I both like and dislike this image. I like it due to the fact that it informs the general public about these kinds of situations. However, I dislike it because I now know the situations that these children were placed into, completely wrongfully. This photograph is successful for the former reason. If there are these kinds of issues today, I would make effort to halt them.

Payton Down

11/9/2017 12:34:02 pm

This image is of many children working in a factory. The factor does not look very safe, there's a lot of rust and dirt. There are two kids looking at the camera and the rest are hard at work. This image is in a black and white with some orang tents in it. I think they used this color because of the setting and the emotions the photographer wants to convey with the image. There are many darker shadows, it looks very natural though. He lighting doesn't seem to be a studio set-up. The two small boys are facing the camera and there are others in the background.

It isn't pleasing to look at but it is interesting. It shows a story behind the photo with these boys who are having to do child labor. It isn't pleasing because the photo doesn't exactly bring joyful memories and thoughts. More of sad, gloomy ideas that pop into the person who is looking at the photo sees. The photographer took the photo at a human eye level, the camera was probably a little lower too. It's on the same height scale as the children. This photo is mostly all clear which means that it uses deep depth of field. The focal point are the two kids standing. It isn't framed, there are just others in the background of the factory. The vent tubes direct your eyes to the subjects, also the fireplace mantel thing kind of point to the boys head. The image looks pretty balanced but it isn't symmetrical. There is extra space because the subjects don't fill up the whole frame. Just others working hard in the factor is what the camera shot cuts off.

The theme or idea the photo has a melancholy. The artist is trying to show that these children should not be working so hard at their age. They were just children that were taken advantage of to save money and get them to go into small places.There is a story from the artist and the photo itself and how this kind of treatment for children was terrible. This didn't make me think of a certain dream but it does remind me of movies and books like the holocaust and slavery books. The photo back then probably was questioning and making a statement, this is how the artist expressed his opinion. The image is very noteworthy and so is the artist.

I liked the photo and how it stood for something bigger than just a nice photo. The deeper meaning makes you think how lucky we all are that children nowadays don't have to go through that. I think this photo is successful, it speaks for itself and the story behind the photo is a great lesson and really makes you think about the life people once lived. I enjoyed analyzing this photo.

Brandon Collins

11/9/2017 12:34:36 pm

The image is of a bunch of minors doing adult labor in a factory. The only colors that are used are black and white. The lighting is artificial light coming from behind the photographer. The light is bright with dark shadows. The objects included are metal machines, brick wall people ages fifteen and up, with torn up clothes, and black smudges. Some kids in the background are working while three of them are looking at who is taking the photo.
The the rule of third is not being used because the main image is everything. The point of view is in third person at an angle where you can see the kid but also see the harsh conditions. The depth of field is a wide depth because everything seems to be in focus. The easy to see lines are on the boys shirt, the lines on his shirt direct you to his face. The edge of the image looks like an adult but it is kinda cropped off. There is no negative space cause the image is all full.
The theme of this image is to show people what harsh conditions it was for a child to work. There is a story being told because if you look at the kids faces you can see they are not working because they want to, they are working to help there family.It reminds me of pictures of a concentration camp in WW2.I feel like the image make us see that us wanting to work now is different from then, they worked to help there family we work to get a little more money to by things for are self.
I have mixed feelings towards this image because it makes me feel sympathetic toward the kids working in those harsh conditions, but it is also fascinating to see that this happened right in our on country something you wouldn't really see here. I feel like this image is successful because it would show people back then that the children were not in safe conditions. Also it's strange to look at because you could have had a family member work in one of these.

Parker Brown

11/9/2017 12:35:32 pm

The image is of a couple of boys that are workers in a factory. It looks like their clothes are pretty dirty, so their hygiene might not be very good. The actually factory looks very dirty, so it looks like it could be very uncomfortable for the boys to be working there. The image is shot in black and white because the picture was taken when colored images weren’t invented. In the picture I don’t see any other kids, so there might be only a couple of kids in the factory surrounded by a bunch of older men.

The composition is good, but it isn’t pleasing to know that the ids had to work at such a young age. The rule of thirds is sort of being used. The boys heads come very close to where the lines intersect. The image is balanced because the boys both centered on either side of the picture about one third of the picture in. The image cuts off a couple of people, so there might be other kids that we can’t see.

The theme of the image is about kids who had to work at a young age during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The idea that is being put out is that people need to recognize how terrible it must have been of the kids who didn’t get to do the things a normal kid would like to do. There is probably a story behind each of the kids that is somewhat being told by seeing them have to work. The image reminds me of some old movies that I’ve seen where kids are helping their fathers with work at a very young age. I wouldn’t say the image is beautiful because of what is actually happening in the image.

I do like the image. The image is very well made considering the technology they had to make photos back then. It also must have been dangerous for him to take the photo. He could catch a disease or get hurt in a factory if he didn’t know what he was doing. I think the image is successful because the image is good at showing us the harsh life kids had at that time.

Annie Mosis

11/9/2017 12:36:07 pm

In this image there are many kids in a factory. The image is mainly focused on the two kids in the front. One kid is folding his arms in front of him and the other is working on something. They are both looking off into the distance so are the other kids in the background. What is unusual there seems to be an older man in the back even though this is a picture focusing on child labor laws. I'm assuming it is a overwatchers to make sure the kids are doing what they're supposed to do. This image looks like it's using an artificial lights because it looks to be night time in the photo. All the boys are wearing hats and striped pants and clothes not in good repair.

I think this image is pleasing to look at because this image tells a story and shows how the kids lived at that time. I also like lightning he Lewis used in this image. Casting dramatic shadows. In this image a shallow depth of field is being used because the background is blurry while the two boys are in focus. In this photo he is using the rule of thirds because the boys are not completely in the middle but more directed in a direction. In this image the focal point is the two boys. There are not leading lines, but one of the boys is framed by one the air vents. In this image below their thighs is cut off.

In this image The artist idea was to change the child labor law. Lewis would go around to different factories and capture children working hard and rigorous jobs. Sometimes even more tedious than what adults have to do. This image caused a lot of controversy but ultimately helped end child labor. In his images he would show the terrible working conditions, how arduous the work was, and a lot more. Lewis images and many other artists images help make what America is today.

I really enjoy this pictures not only for the composer of the image but also the message and history behind them. I find these pictures very interesting and noteworthy to look at. I also believe these images were successful in helping child labor laws. Overall I enjoy this image and any of his thr images. I enjoy the history and the message behind these photos.

Jordan Bell

11/9/2017 12:38:53 pm

This is an image of two child laborers with other young children in the background. The place these children are working in seem dirty and hot. The image was taken at midnight of an Indiana glasswork factory. The photograph is in black and white because of the type of camera Lewis Hine was using. The lighting in this photograph seems to be artificial light and not moon light. In this image, the viewer can see eleven individuals of younger ages. At the top of the photo there are large tubes/vents and a chimney. In the back right of the photo there is a fire with some type of wooden or metal contraption in front of it.

This photo was taken using a black and white film. The rule of thirds is not being used because both of the main subjects are in the middle of the photo. The point of view is third person taken from eye level. The depth of field utilized in this photograph is a deep depth of field making sure that most of the image is in focus. The focal point of this image is the little boy closest to the camera. This image is not being framed and the tubes coming off from the vents direct the viewer’s attention towards the subjects. The subject does fill the frame. Even though the main subject of the image is of the two little boys in the front, the background information is still very important to the context of the image. The image does however, crop off at least two people.

The idea being conveyed in this image is that child laborers are overworked and become more like slaves. Children should not have to sacrifice their childhood to work long hours, day and night, in poor conditions to earn less than the average wage. The artist made this image to show the world that child labor is not okay and that it should be abolished. At the times, this picture would have challenged the regulation of child labor. This photograph is not particularly beautiful because it is not all sunshine and rainbows and it jumps head first into a controversial topic.

This photograph was successful because of the subject and setting of the image. If the photographer had taken a picture of these same kids on a field or at a store most people would just think the kids were dirty from playing or poor. Put in the context of the image, it is clear that these children are hard factory workers. It is quite obvious that most of the children in the image are younger than sixteen years of age, however, many of them look tired, withered and old. The photograph shows the audience what child labor went through, all their hard work, all their pain. Children of poor families went to work at dangerous, low paying jobs and it is unfair that employers take advantage of the children and put them at more risk by making them do unwanted jobs in the factories or mines.

Gilly Thompson

11/10/2017 09:34:04 am

This image shows a room full of young boys , maybe seven or eight of them. They look dirty and their clothes are torn. All the boys are wearing worn out caps. Some of them appear to be working in the background. The two boys towards the front are looking at something. Possibly just looking at Lewis hine, the man photographing them. They are also working with glass.

I believe Hines portrayed his images very well. He helped people see what was really happening. He gave those children a voice and let them be seen. Hines risked his career and getting into trouble with the law by sneaking into the factories to take these photos. Many children were being put in life risking situations with their jobs. People wanted to hire children because of their small size and small hands with machinery but this put the children at risk. Many children died from the work load and dangerous equipment. He wanted to put an end to this by showing people what cruel and unjust things were actually happening in the factories that children worked in. The children in this photograph don’t look very happy.

I like the lighting in this image, even though it's set at a dark time of the day there faces seemed to be filled with light. The shadows are pleasing to they eye and i enjoy that the images are in black and white. In the image young boys are working very hard late at night. This image is pleasing and he sets the mood of the image by being able to see all that the children have to go through. It’s the third person point of view . He’s there and observing but he can’t actually relate to all the children have been through. This image is a deep depth point of view.

The focal point of this image is the boys . This is the focal point because he wanted to show how these boys lives are. The focal point fills the frame because everything around them has to do with the point of the image of showing how children have to work. It doesn’t appear to look like anything was cropped out. It shows them working and how dark and dirty the conditions were.

The idea behind this image is very easy to understand. Hines helped show the world the conditions and hazardous jobs that these young innocent children had to do. These jobs took away the children’s youth and innocence . I think this image is beautiful however what’s happening in the image is far from beautiful. Child labor is wrong in so many ways and can cause severe health issues .
I think this image was very successful . The reasons behind him doing the images were to help change the laws. Some people were blind at the idea of what work conditions there were and he showed this in his images. He helped people understand and feel sympathetic for the children.

Kylie Bruehler

11/10/2017 10:21:14 am

This is a photograph done by Lewis Hine during the early times that child labor was at its highest in America. This was around the early 20th century. This image is of course a black and white image because it was taken way before digital or even more modern film cameras. This image was taken right inside of one of the factories in which children worked. Because this is a black and white image, its quality and composition is very different than a normal photograph seen today. The photograph is actually very well exposed and is very sharp considering the camera that was dealt with. The factory in which this image looks very dirty and dangerous and not in a good condition for anyone to be working in, let alone children. It is not obvious what the children are working on or what they are doing, but some are focused towards the photographer and others are not.

The is darker towards the edges of the image, but the light is drawn to the main subjects of the image. The main subjects of this image are two little boys, who are completely illuminated and centered. Most of the bodies in this image appear to be children, but towards the left edge of the image there is an older looking figure who might be supervising the labor of the children. The boys look dirty from working inside of the factory, also not very clean or healthy to be working in. The clothing of the boys is also very tattered possibly from working. One of the two main boys in the image has his arms crossed and the other is looking towards the camera as the other boy is but instead with a tool in his hand.

In the boys’ faces, there is a certain look of innocence. This image bring a feeling of sympathy for the boys, as it should. This image informs of the feelings and the things that these children must have been going through. This was a quite terrible time for these children. Some even got sick from working in these conditions. The photographer must have put himself at a risk to get these images, but his intent was very special and very good. With these images, Lewis Hine gave these children a voice and showed their innocence and everything that they were put through when working at such a young age in these poor conditions. These children are just ordinary and what they were being put through was completely unfair and inhumane. Lewis Hine must have agreed that what was being done to these children was unfair and therefore produced these images to make this statement and in hopes to see if there was something that could end this.

I do this that this is a very successful image and I like it a lot. This time in photography was very different and not exactly something that we can understand today but I have a very high respect for it. The photographer wanted to show (through this photograph) the innocence of the children in it and the unfair conditions that they were most likely facing. Lewis Hine was very successful in meeting his intentions with this image and producing a very nice and high quality image. When I see this image, I am filled with sympathy for the children in this image and it really helps me to see what the children being photographed were going through in this time. The child laborers were given a voice in the production of this image and the image successfully tells the story that it is focusing on, the hardships and unfairness of child labor in America during the early 20th Century.

Lucas Prado

11/10/2017 11:54:58 am

This is a black and white image is of some workers, almost all of whom are kids, working in a glass workshop. All of the workers have a fair amount of dirt and soot on their faces, and they all wear pants, hats, and worn, long sleeve shirts. The room that they’re in consists of a network of metal pipes climbing along the ceiling, forking into many smaller pipes jutting out throughout the room. There is also a brick furnace with a large pipe for ventilation above it. Tables are scattered throughout the room, with glass tubes on some while molds and melted glass sit on the others. There is light coming from behind the photographer, presumably from a nearby furnace.

The photo is fairly pleasing to look at, even though it’s a bit grainy. Granted, the photo was taken about a hundred years ago and had to be uploaded, so it was going to lose some clarity in the process. The image has a fairly balanced depth of field; the people in the background are visible, albeit somewhat blurry. The main focus is the two kids standing towards the center of the image. The kids also fulfill the rule of thirds, with them being very close to if not right on the lines. The main set of lines is through the pipes, which lead to the workers off to the side of the image. Because there is lots of machinery and frameworks of pipes, the image is definitely asymmetrical; it wouldn’t look right if a workspace with this many people each doing their own thing was symmetrical.

The main theme behind this image was the conditions in which children worked. The artist made this photo to show the public what health issues children constantly had to face. It also hints about the marketing ploy at the time where large companies used children for their lower wages and their smaller bodies being able to fit into cramped spaces should the situation arise. For the time, it was meant to question the morality behind sending children off to work, which wasn’t uncommon back then. Since the artist was in poverty himself at one point, he probably made these photos so that people wouldn’t have to live like he did.

I do like this image, as it shows what the situation was back then for some children. If the artist's intention was to expose the dangers of child labor, then it is definitely successful. Given that these photos were borderline illegal, these images were even more legitimate. It shows that it is successful in the public outcry that these images caused. This in turn led to Congress taking action, which made the photos even more successful overall.

Naty Orquin

11/10/2017 12:20:38 pm

Specifics:
The image shows young children in a factory. During the early 1900’s children were forced to work in factories to make enough money for their families. The image is in black and white because it was taken during the early 1900’s. The lighting of the image shows that their location has only one source of light either there was a flash or there was maybe a window where the lighting was coming in through. The shadows give the image great dimension and give the picture more life. The image includes young boys. A factory setting in the background and an oven type of thing. These boys are making something at their factory job.
Form:
The image is pleasing to look at because the lighting is just right, the subjects of the image are looking at the camera. The rule of thirds is being used with the child on the left side of the image. The photographer took the picture straight on. The image was taken in a deep depth of field to show the whole image in detail. The focal point of the image are the two boys and the story of the image. The lines of the tubes in the back direct my eye down to the boys. The image isn’t necessary balance, but the image is still pleasing to look at. Nothing important is being cropped out.
Content:
The theme of this image is to depict the lives of children working in factories in the 1900’s. The idea of the artist, Lewis Hine, was to interview child laborers to understand what was happening inside those factories. His intention was to capture what was being hidden behind doors This image challenges society and what was not to be spoken about or even mentioned in those times and he went into the factories to capture what was uncomfortable in society.
This image reminds me of the dairy/meat industry nowadays. Society tries to ignore all the pain and suffering going on in the dairy/meat farms. However, there has been sever investigator just like the photographer who go behind the doors to show what is actually going on. This image is so interesting because it was taken so long ago, but to me is very relatable to what is going on in our society now.
Evaluate:
I love this image because it is so unique and real. This image was a candid in a way that the children aren’t posing they are justing doing what they would usually do. The image was not photoshopped nor forced. It captures the express of the children’s faces. The environment of the image with the children give us a real insight on how it was to work in a factory in the early 1900’s.

Matthew Weiss

11/11/2017 05:17:30 am

The image is of two children, working in a factory. The image shows the two children working in terrible conditions in the factory. The photo shows the children working a night shift, in dirty, and inhumane conditions. Besides the boy in the photo, there are some men, working in the background. Despite the difference in age, the boys are forced into working long, draining, and physically demanding shifts just like the adults.

In the image the obvious first focal point is the boys, but there is a line created by the pipe running along the ceiling that directs vision along the wall, so that the men crouched down, hunched over, and working become visible. The source of light in the photo, seems extremely harsh, and aside from the foreground that is illuminated from this, the rest of the factory down the hall is dark. Another note about the photo is how everything is in motion behind the boys. Everybody behind them seems to be working, all doing their jobs, and this allows us to piece together how chaotic and crowded factories like this one would have been. In addition to this. The boy that is closer to the camera, and arguably the main subject, is placed in the right third of the image. Right where the sections of the photo intersect.

The obvious story in the image is the one of the boys, and how they are unfairly forced into harsh labor. This image depicts this very well, by showing how unclean, and dirty everything was in those factories. In addition, the image shows the crowded hallway, filled with equipment, and people working. This image and image liked it helped to depict the struggles and hardships that children had to endure in factories. This image does that very well as it helped people who couldn’t see these things first hand, see them.

I like the image, it was made to help the children that suffered through such working conditions. It did that very well by sparking revealing the issue to eliminate child laboring. This image was an important part of return these children their childhoods.

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Period 6 -- Critical Analysis #8

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