A Lewis Hine scandal
Thursday 26 June 2003
The Atlantic Monthly website has an article by Richard B Woodward, Too much of a good thing: photography, forgery, and the Lewis Hine scandal. Here’s the blurb:
The theoretical physicist who ignited the biggest firestorm in the history of the American photography market was simply trying to figure out if his vintage photos were genuine. By the time he learned the answer, two of the country’s best-known photography scholars had come under a cloud of suspicion.
Part of a photo of Lewis Hine photographing children in a slum, c. 1910 [Eastman Museum]
About Lewis Hine: From 1905 this American sociologist-turned-photographer recorded and publicised the plight of migrants, workers and children. Hine helped establish the camera as a tool for social activists. See online collections of his work held by the Eastman Museum, the New York Public Library and the Library of Congress.
See Lewis Hine biographies (with links to more images) on the Getty Museum, Multimedia Library, Photocollect Gallery and Masters of Photography websites.