Boy carrying hats. Blee[c]ker St., N.Y.
In 1908 Hine left his teaching position at the progressive Ethical Culture School in New York to become a staff photographer for the National Child Labor Committee. The same year, he described his pictures in a reform journal as "graphic representation of conditions and methods of work, through pictures for exhibits, reports, folders, magazine and newspaper articles, and lantern slides." Over the next decade Hine made thousands of negatives-often undercover-of children working in mills, sweatshops, factories, and various street trades, such as the delivery boy pictured here. Through a steady accumulation of specific, idiosyncratic facts, the photographer hoped to reveal the larger, hidden patterns of exploitation upon which the American city was rapidly expanding. More important, his reports and slide lectures were not meant solely as tools for labor reform but as ways of triggering a more profound, empathetic response in the viewer, one that would cause him to reconsider his relationship to society.
Artwork Details
- Title: Boy carrying hats. Blee[c]ker St., N.Y.
- Artist: Lewis Hine (American, 1874–1940)
- Date: February 1912
- Medium: Gelatin silver print
- Dimensions: 11.5 x 14.7 cm (4 1/2 x 5 13/16 in.)
- Classification: Photographs
- Credit Line: Bequest of Edwin De T. Bechtel, by exchange, 1970
- Object Number: 1970.588.1
- Curatorial Department: Photographs
More Artwork
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.