New York c. 1910

This photograph, "New York," by Lewis Hine, captures a group of children in what looks like a cramped living space. I'm thinking about Hine, what he might have felt standing in that room, camera in hand. There's something so raw and unsettling about the scene – the kids' expressions, their small hands working, working, working with string. You can almost feel the weight of their circumstances pressing down, a weight of child labor and poverty. It makes you wonder about the stories etched onto their faces, the resilience they must have had just to get through each day. Photographs are like paintings in a way, aren't they? Each click of the shutter is a brushstroke, capturing a moment, an emotion, a truth that lingers long after the image is developed. It's a powerful thing, this act of bearing witness. Artists, like Hine, are always in dialogue, aren’t they? Each work builds on the last, pushing boundaries, challenging norms, inviting us to see the world through a different lens. This photograph isn't just a document; it's a conversation starter, urging us to confront uncomfortable truths and to question the status quo.