Ellis Island

Maker Hine, Lewis American, 1874-1940

Date1905; printed later (Photo League print)

MediumGelatin silver print

Dimensionsimage: 6 3/4 in x 4 13/16 in; mat: 14 in x 11 in; paper: 7 in x 5 in

Credit LineMuseum purchase

Object number1982:291

Collections

19th and early 20th century

About the ArtistPosthumously renowned for his groundbreaking social documentary work, Lewis Hine spent the majority of his life photographing America's social issues: immigration, child labor, and the plight of the working man. His photographs of immigrants at Ellis Island treated the new, often degraded, citizens with grace, photographing his subjects in more formal poses instead of the "huddled masses" that appeared in the media. In the words of Lou Stettner, "Hine portrayed [the immigrants] for us and for history as solemn and dignified carriers of a sophisticated, rich and varied cultures from the Old World."

Born in 1874, Lewis Hine was raised in Oshkosh, Wisconsin and briefly studied at the University of Chicago in 1900, where he took his first photo class. His career focused on three topics: immigrants arriving at Ellis Island, child labor, and his Work Portraits series, which depicted the human workforce during the modernization of industry.
His work was largely unrecognized during his lifetime, until Berenice Abbott and Elizabeth McCausland organized a retrospective of his work in 1939 shortly before his death, launching him into public view.