Mick Hartley

The Shorpy Vintage Photos website is one of my regular visits since I first came across it last September. There’s something compelling about these old photos, whether straightforward street scenes, social observation, portraits, or what nowadays you’d call art photography. Online, I think, is the best way to see them, especially when you view full size. Lewis Wickes Hine is one photographer who features frequently. He toured the States in the early 1900s taking pictures of children at work. I’ve seen one of his published books, and the quality of the printed photographs is nowhere near as good as the quality that you get here.

This is one of Hine’s portraits. Taken May 1910 in Wilmington, Delaware, it’s of Richard Pierce. “Fourteen years of age. Western Union Telegraph Messenger No. 2. Nine months in service. Works from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Smokes. Visits houses of prostitution.”

I don’t believe you can take photos like that anymore. Children growing up nowadays are photographed to within an inch of their lives. Already as babies they’re learning to pose. You couldn’t stick someone in front of a camera now and be able to see into their soul as you seem to be able to see into Richard Pierce’s soul.

Alternatively, Lewis Wickes Hine may have been a genius. I don’t honestly know.

This, by the way, is my current desktop background.