Lewis Hine - various websites and books - One good example of how artists help change society and how it operates. Hine was photographing child laborers around 1908 and his photos helped enact child labor laws.
I remember seeing this image, and images like it throughout middle school and high school in my social studies classes. When I used to see these images in my textbooks and projected with notes during class, I never really thought of them as someone's art work. They really just seemed to be documentation of the problems that we had involving child labor. However, I now realize that Lewis Hine is a great artist, and not only does his work help document child laborers in 1908, but he was also able to bring about social change with these images. People were able to directly see the problems going on and as a result his photos helped enact child labor laws. Lewis was not only a sociologist and photographer, but he was a teacher as well. He encouraged his students to use photography as an educational medium in the same way that he himself did. Many people do not realize the impact that artists have all over the world. Had it not been like photographers like Hein who showed people the problems that were going on around the world, and many other artists who have documented our history, our world may be a very different place. It is important for artists to keep bringing up issues and things that we can change and improve on because we have the ability to make a huge impact on how our society operates. I believe that it is our role as artists and designers to keep pushing boundaries and make art for change.
12/7/10 Jackie San Fillipo ADP III- Rotz Weekly Statement
I have seen Hine’s work before, because it is famous, for good reason. His work is like photojournalism, its artwork that documents important social events and promotes change. His photographs were particularly important during the time he lived in, since there were not as many outlets for public awareness as there are today. I think it is our jobs as artists, who have creative minds and therefore the tools to inspire, to follow in his footsteps. I am not saying everything we do needs to promote social change or document problems, but we should be using the things we learn to truly do something important, and help others. In lecture this week, we talked about many things, among them biodiversity and human diversity. Not only are animals becoming extinct and species are changing, but so are we. We are not necessarily evolving, but we are merging together. Land is becoming smaller, and each month, a different human language becomes obsolete. In 10 years, we will go from having 7,000 languages to 2,500. Although the idea of humans merging and uniting is cool, it is also sad that there is such rich culture that will be lost. I think as artists, like Hine, we should celebrate and document not only problems but also things like this, such as our cultural values that will eventually be lost.
Lewis Hine truly was a great photojournalist. He exposed issues that many people were not explicitly aware of, and he enacted change within society. I think that is the goal for many artists. Many artists want to bring about change in society, and they use their art as a tool. Hine is a great example of using art to bring about change. I can definitely relate Hine’s work to some of the artists we’ve discussed in class. I think Chris Jordan is another good example of an artist that exposes social issues through his art. The different pieces like the cell phone piece, the prison jumpsuit piece, and the paper piece all expose different issues that we as a society really need to think about. I think that Jordan’s goal is similar to Hines. We’ve also learned about a lot of ecovention artists that expose environmental issues. I think that art is a wonderful place for people to speak up about issues that face society. Lewis Hine had groundbreaking photographs and I think that’s why he’s gained so much notoriety. I personally love his photos every time I see them, and he’s an influence on many contemporary artists.
The photographs of Lewis Hine are prolific and connote social change and awareness. Working within the realm of photojournalism and social awareness, Hine presented societal problems during a time where the topic of child labor laws, dangerous working conditions, and minimum pay were usually hushed. The work of Hine exemplifies that of a true photo-genius; rich in form and content. His imagery is nicely composed and he advocates a strong social urgency. One of the first photographs that remember from Childhood is Lewis Hine’s Rockefeller Center Construction site. The photo hangs large in my grandparent’s home. When my grandpa was a young man, he worked jobs similar to the one portrayed in this photo. This picture was described to me as something that my grandpa used to do as work. I remember asking my grandma how my grandpa was able to sit so high in the air and not fall off. Even at a young age I was affected by the complications of this photo and found implications within its complexity. Photos as tools for social change are profound. Non-photographic art for social change is strong, but by being able to take a snap shot of an unjust reality sends a powerful message. I wonder if photographic art in today’s world acts as strongly as it did in days before digital modifications and Photoshop? Film photos are a beautiful sect of archived history that show and tell simultaneously.
Teresa Dennis TMP III: James Rotz Weekly Statement 12/7
The talk of the way different societies fall in Collapse has made complete sense. I see that there is a possibility for collapse within our society, and I feel that out of the three causes listed, there is one that is most prevalent in our society. Our society is somewhat apathetic, they think that they are not responsible, that they cannot cause any change, and so they do not try. People see a large problem looming over everyone’s heads, and they believe they did not contribute to it; it is too large of a problem to be the cause of one person. We are taught to think of the individual, to focus on only one’s well-being and betterment. Nothing is mentioned of the power of a group, when people can pull together what they can do. It is because of this mentality that small things that minorly harm the environment can build-up and become a large problem. People do things on a small scale, take no responsibility for their own problems, thinking, “It can’t possibly do anything, who cares?”, all the while other people are doing the same thing. It is this that causes problems like the dead zone in the gulf, overfishing, overgrazing, and pollution deposits into local bodies of water. There is something wrong with how we are fundamentally structured, and it threatens to collapse out society.
This is a really interesting image not only visually but contextually as well. Lewis Hine focuses on topic of child labor laws but is able to capture the seriousness and social in justice for the whole situation with one black and whit e photograph. As stated previously it is hard to think of the pictures in our textbooks or flashed on the history channel as art, but many artist created revolutions and change through their dramatic images. Another image , Migrant Mother by Dorothea Lange became the face of the Great Depression, images like these within historical context appear to be nothing but that, hitsory, However when taking a closer look at the images and overwhelming emotional influence it has on the viewer one can see that these images are more than a reflection of history but a representation of art.
Lindsay Avino
ReplyDeleteADP III
Weekly Statement
12/7/10
I remember seeing this image, and images like it throughout middle school and high school in my social studies classes. When I used to see these images in my textbooks and projected with notes during class, I never really thought of them as someone's art work. They really just seemed to be documentation of the problems that we had involving child labor. However, I now realize that Lewis Hine is a great artist, and not only does his work help document child laborers in 1908, but he was also able to bring about social change with these images. People were able to directly see the problems going on and as a result his photos helped enact child labor laws. Lewis was not only a sociologist and photographer, but he was a teacher as well. He encouraged his students to use photography as an educational medium in the same way that he himself did.
Many people do not realize the impact that artists have all over the world. Had it not been like photographers like Hein who showed people the problems that were going on around the world, and many other artists who have documented our history, our world may be a very different place. It is important for artists to keep bringing up issues and things that we can change and improve on because we have the ability to make a huge impact on how our society operates. I believe that it is our role as artists and designers to keep pushing boundaries and make art for change.
12/7/10
ReplyDeleteJackie San Fillipo
ADP III- Rotz
Weekly Statement
I have seen Hine’s work before, because it is famous, for good reason. His work is like photojournalism, its artwork that documents important social events and promotes change. His photographs were particularly important during the time he lived in, since there were not as many outlets for public awareness as there are today. I think it is our jobs as artists, who have creative minds and therefore the tools to inspire, to follow in his footsteps. I am not saying everything we do needs to promote social change or document problems, but we should be using the things we learn to truly do something important, and help others. In lecture this week, we talked about many things, among them biodiversity and human diversity. Not only are animals becoming extinct and species are changing, but so are we. We are not necessarily evolving, but we are merging together. Land is becoming smaller, and each month, a different human language becomes obsolete. In 10 years, we will go from having 7,000 languages to 2,500. Although the idea of humans merging and uniting is cool, it is also sad that there is such rich culture that will be lost. I think as artists, like Hine, we should celebrate and document not only problems but also things like this, such as our cultural values that will eventually be lost.
Katie Klimkowski
ReplyDeleteADP III
12.6.10
Lewis Hine truly was a great photojournalist. He exposed issues that many people were not explicitly aware of, and he enacted change within society. I think that is the goal for many artists. Many artists want to bring about change in society, and they use their art as a tool. Hine is a great example of using art to bring about change. I can definitely relate Hine’s work to some of the artists we’ve discussed in class. I think Chris Jordan is another good example of an artist that exposes social issues through his art. The different pieces like the cell phone piece, the prison jumpsuit piece, and the paper piece all expose different issues that we as a society really need to think about. I think that Jordan’s goal is similar to Hines. We’ve also learned about a lot of ecovention artists that expose environmental issues. I think that art is a wonderful place for people to speak up about issues that face society. Lewis Hine had groundbreaking photographs and I think that’s why he’s gained so much notoriety. I personally love his photos every time I see them, and he’s an influence on many contemporary artists.
Caitlin Murphy
ReplyDelete7 December 2010
Weekly Statement
The photographs of Lewis Hine are prolific and connote social change and awareness. Working within the realm of photojournalism and social awareness, Hine presented societal problems during a time where the topic of child labor laws, dangerous working conditions, and minimum pay were usually hushed. The work of Hine exemplifies that of a true photo-genius; rich in form and content. His imagery is nicely composed and he advocates a strong social urgency.
One of the first photographs that remember from Childhood is Lewis Hine’s Rockefeller Center Construction site. The photo hangs large in my grandparent’s home. When my grandpa was a young man, he worked jobs similar to the one portrayed in this photo. This picture was described to me as something that my grandpa used to do as work. I remember asking my grandma how my grandpa was able to sit so high in the air and not fall off. Even at a young age I was affected by the complications of this photo and found implications within its complexity.
Photos as tools for social change are profound. Non-photographic art for social change is strong, but by being able to take a snap shot of an unjust reality sends a powerful message. I wonder if photographic art in today’s world acts as strongly as it did in days before digital modifications and Photoshop? Film photos are a beautiful sect of archived history that show and tell simultaneously.
Teresa Dennis
ReplyDeleteTMP III: James Rotz
Weekly Statement 12/7
The talk of the way different societies fall in Collapse has made complete sense. I see that there is a possibility for collapse within our society, and I feel that out of the three causes listed, there is one that is most prevalent in our society. Our society is somewhat apathetic, they think that they are not responsible, that they cannot cause any change, and so they do not try. People see a large problem looming over everyone’s heads, and they believe they did not contribute to it; it is too large of a problem to be the cause of one person. We are taught to think of the individual, to focus on only one’s well-being and betterment. Nothing is mentioned of the power of a group, when people can pull together what they can do. It is because of this mentality that small things that minorly harm the environment can build-up and become a large problem. People do things on a small scale, take no responsibility for their own problems, thinking, “It can’t possibly do anything, who cares?”, all the while other people are doing the same thing. It is this that causes problems like the dead zone in the gulf, overfishing, overgrazing, and pollution deposits into local bodies of water. There is something wrong with how we are fundamentally structured, and it threatens to collapse out society.
This is a really interesting image not only visually but contextually as well. Lewis Hine focuses on topic of child labor laws but is able to capture the seriousness and social in justice for the whole situation with one black and whit e photograph. As stated previously it is hard to think of the pictures in our textbooks or flashed on the history channel as art, but many artist created revolutions and change through their dramatic images. Another image , Migrant Mother by Dorothea Lange became the face of the Great Depression, images like these within historical context appear to be nothing but that, hitsory, However when taking a closer look at the images and overwhelming emotional influence it has on the viewer one can see that these images are more than a reflection of history but a representation of art.
ReplyDelete