Untitled 1908

This photograph of a young boy standing in a field was taken by Lewis Hine at an unknown date. The sepia tones create a feeling of nostalgia, but also a sense of the past. I wonder what Hine was thinking when he took this photo. Did he see something in the boy’s eyes, a story waiting to be told? You see those buildings in the background, and the way the light falls? I’m interested in how the arrangement of the boy within the natural and man-made worlds, creates a visual tension. It's the way he's posed - not posed - that gets to me. Photography has always been in conversation with painting, with the photographer using light and composition in the way that painters use color and brushstrokes. I feel it speaks to the human condition, and offers a view of the world through one person’s eyes, as painting does. It is a unique way of seeing and experiencing life. Hine captures a moment in time and invites us to reflect on what was, what is, and what could be.