New York c. 1910

Lewis Hine made this photograph, New York, using gelatin silver print sometime in the early 20th century. The sepia tones create an old-timey feel, like looking into a distant memory. The surface texture is smooth, almost ghostly, fitting for a scene that feels both intimate and far away. Look closely at the hands of the children, each one caught in a delicate dance of labor. The threads they manipulate create a fragile network, like the tenuous connections of childhood itself. Hine, like a lot of artists at that time, seemed to be on a mission, like Käthe Kollwitz's prints, to reveal the harsh realities of the world. In our own time, we should embrace art's ability to hold multiple stories, to resist easy answers, and to keep the conversation going.