HINE, LEWIS

W. Work Portrait. Silver print, 6x4 inches (16.5x11.4 cm.), with period notations on verso. Circa 1924 In 1919, after returning to the U. S. from Europe, Hine embarked on a new project and methodology, which he called "Work Portraits." He wrote of this approach, "I wanted to do something positive. So I said to myself, 'Why not do the worker at work? The man on the job.'" His aim was to show the importance of human labor at time when the American public was more focused on the power and might of machines.