General Utility Boy at Lumber Company 1913

This photograph, "General Utility Boy at Lumber Company," was taken by Lewis Hine, though we don’t know exactly when. It's rendered in a sepia tone, like an old memory fading at the edges. Hine was invested in process, in revealing the hidden labor behind things, just as I’m interested in the hidden labor in artmaking. The texture of the photograph itself is grainy, the light diffused, emphasizing the rough, tactile reality of the lumber. The eye is drawn to the boy, standing amongst the stacks of wood. Notice how his body is angled, straining. Look at his bare feet. He’s caught in a moment of precarious balance. He’s like one of the brushstrokes in a painting, capturing movement, energy, and the weight of the world. Hine’s work makes me think of Walker Evans, another artist who looked at the social landscape with a compassionate eye. Both artists captured the dignity of the everyday, reminding us that art can be found in the most unexpected places. They both embrace ambiguity, inviting us to see the world in new ways.