Lewis Hein’s photos from around 1910 had a massive impact on the issue of child labor in the United States. People had been aware of the problem, but no one had done anything about it until Hein started photographing working children across the country, including newsboys, field workers, coal miners, and cotton spinners. He also interviewed these kids and reported their stories in detailed captions. His photos and stories brought the horrors of child labor into the spotlight, leading directly to states enforcing a minimum employment age.
Hein used three camera techniques to make his portraits so effective at humanizing his subjects. Firstly, he shot with a very shallow depth of field, putting the worker in sharp focus with the background mostly blurred out. Secondly, he photographed these kids at their eye level, rather than looking down on them. Finally, he used repetition in his framing to demonstrate how widespread the problem was. Hein’s photos turned the issue of child labor from something people had heard about to something they couldn’t ignore.