A Need for Social Change

Filling a museum with artistic photographs and memorable moments was not Jacob Rii or Lewis Hine’s idea of photography. Taking snap shots of poverty and reality to promote social change constructed both Jacob Rii’s and Lewis Hine’s view on photography. To them, the camera was used to as weapon for social change.

Jacob Rii’s used photography to “illuminate the horrid details of grim poverty: dirt, trash, peeling paint, and the starkness of having nothing” (219). He was not concerned with the detail or the sharpness of a picture, but instead; he wanted his

pictures to reveal problems in order to make the unseen visible. This way, his audience would feel the responsibility to act. Rii’s did not feature the subjects face front on, he captured them in action to expose their true facial expression. Rii’s began giving lectures and pairing his photos with words demonstrating “that photographs, in combination with words, coul

d directs social activity.

Taking a look at his photo of these three children he reveals an ignored reality for so many. The boys look sad, cold and maybe even hungry. If Rii’s were to use this photograph in a lecture or publication the words would create a “photo story.”

While Rii’s presented the need for social change, through his candid photographs, Hine begged to reform child labor. His photographs were far from candid. The subject

was not only posing for the camera, but Hine also collected the information of the children photographed, such as: name, age, height, weight, work-related injuries, etc. As seen in the “Human Junk” photograph Hine supplies the picture with a few small phrases. Like Rii, Hine explained the use of a photo coupled

with words “directed viewers to a premeditated conclusion. So, when examining this photo it is easy to side with his opinion.

Both Rii and Hine constructed social change and reforms by using the camera and text to express societies need for change.