History of Photography

Photography for Social Aims

History of Photography

(Textbook Plate 6.24) Alfred Stieglitz, The Steerage, 1907, from Camera Work, no.34. Photogravure. Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Henry Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor (1851)

5.10. Thomas Annan, Close No.37, High Street, 1868. from the Old Closes and Streets of Glasgow, from Photographs Taken for the City of Glasgow Improvement Trust, 1900.

“Haussmannization” of Paris during the last third of the 19th C. (Second Empire Period) - modernization of the city named after Baron Haussmann; Innovation of the city planning, including wide Boulevards, new sewer system, railway stations, new apt blocks, installation of gas street lamps [à leading to nightlife of outdoor cafes and street theaters] - benefited wealthy people and foreign tourists, driving poor Parisians to the outskirts of the city. -Karl Marx criticized Haussmannization for razing Paris for the sightseer

Elevation of apartment building at 39 Rue Neuve-des-Mathurins, 1860. Architectural drawing. [Beaux-Arts style buildings in Paris]

Avenue de l Opéra. Paris, France.

5.1. Charles Marville, Intersection in Old Paris, one of 425 views of old Paris, c. 1865-9. [14 Rue des Marmousets (destroyed); View

from the East, At left, Rue de Glatigny (destroyed, replaced by the hotel-Dieu).

(textbook plate, 4.36). John Thomson, The Cangue, 1871-72, from China and its People, 1874.

5.11. John Thomson, The Crawlers, 1877-78. Victoria & Albert Museum, London. Collaborated with writer/social activist Adolphe Smith Headingly on Street life in

London. ; documenting objectively without omission or exaggeration.

John Thomson, The Independent Shoe-black, c. 1876. Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

-The background was included to show people in their authentic surroundings. -The pictures were accompanied by detailed commentaries on the individual subjects.

-a more analytical approach than mere identification of picturesque types

5.12. Photographer Unknown, Before and After Photographs of Young Boys, c. 1875. Albumen prints. Thomas Barnardo Photographic Archive, Iford, England.

Dr. Barnardo s homes (orphanage): used photographs in a functional way for public relations and as a source of income for his charitable work.

before and after photograph, Dr. Thomas Barnardo archive. C.1875. -Barnardo s staged before-and-after photographs of the children who entered his homes

and training programs, the overly dramatized images of the children were criticized.

• “compassion fatigue”? - repeated images of people in squalid conditions, which bolstered stereotypes of the poor as inferior à as photographic coverage increased, public response declined.

Jacob Riis, Home of an Italian Ragpicker, c. 1890. Museum of the City of New York.

Social Reform Photography in the U.S.

Jacob Riis, In Poverty Gap: An English Coal-Heaver s Home, 1889.

Jacob Riis, "Lodgers in a Crowded Bayard Street Tenement--'Five Cents a Spot' , 1889.

Jocob Riis, The Man slept in this cellar for four years, about 1890.

7.5. Jacob Riis, Bandits Roost, Mulberry Street, New York, 1888.

-Riis wrote an expose for NY Tribune and wrote a book How the Other Half Lives (1892) -took an advantage of hand-held camera and flash.

-NYC enacted many reforms as a result of Riis s work.

Lewis Hine, Climbing into America, 1908. Lewis Hine taught at Ethical Culture School of New York, trained as a Socialist, used the

camera as a means of gathering research information. --critical of social, political, economic climate in the U.S. for immigrants.

Lewis Hine, Italian Family Seeking Lost Baggage, Ellis Island, 1905.

Lewis W. Hine, Ten-Year-Old Spinner, North Carolina Cotton Mill, 1908-09.

One of the spinners in Whitnel Cotton Mill. She was 51 inches high. Has been in the mill one year. Sometimes works at night. Runs 4 sides - 48 cents a day. When asked how old she was, she

hesitated, then said, "I don't remember," then added confidentially, "I'm not old enough to work, but do just the same." Out of 50 employees, there were ten children about her size. Whitnel, N.C.

Lewis Hine –free-lanced for National Child labor Committee (NCLC) ; he made a concrete contribution to legislative reforms on child labor

7.79. Lewis Hine, Child in Carolina Cotton Mill, 1908.

The overseer said apologetically, "She just happened in." She was working steadily. The mills seem full of youngsters who "just happened in" or "are helping sister." Newberry, S.C.

Lewis W. Hine, Breaker Boys in a Coal Mine, South Pittston, Pa., 1911. Gelatin silver print, Private Collection.

6.44. Paul Strand, Photograph- New York (Woman with sign that reads Blind ), from Camera Work, June 1917. Photogravure.

Paul Strand, Wall Street, New York, 1915.

6.45. Paul Strand, Abstractions, Porch

Shadows, Connecticut, 1915. Gelatin silver print by

Richard Benson, MoMA, New York.

Counterpart in literature in social reform

• Theodor Dresier, An American Tragedy, 1925. – portrays life as a struggle against ungovernable forces. Protagonist, Clyde Griffith – Roberta vs Sandra, based on a real story, Chester Gillette – Grace Brown.

• Upton Sinclair, The Jungle, 1908. –exposed corruption in government and business. Exposure of health violations and unsanitary practices in the U.S. meat packing industry in early 20th C. based on an investigation he did for a socialist newspaper.