The Ball Team. Composed mainly of glass workers. Indiana. Aug. 1908. L.W.H. [Lewis Wickes Hine]. (LOC) (Photo credit: The Library of Congress)

The Daily PetaPixel

Lewis Hine's Photography and The End of Child Labor in the United States

Posted: 07 Sep 2013 02:50 PM PDT

It's hard to imagine it, but in the early 1900s, child labor was still extremely common in the United States. All across the nation children would spend their days slaving away in mines and cotton mills, far away from the school rooms that the National Child Labor Committee wanted them to be in.
The NCLC had been trying to put a stop to child labor since it was founded in 1904, but statistics weren't having the effect they had hoped. So, in 1908, they decided to enlist the help of Lewis Hine and his camera to get their message out.
Over the next decade and a half, Hine traveled to half of the continental United States, taking photos of everything from the Breaker boys in the mines of Pennsylvania — whose job was to separate coal from slate — to the children working in cotton mills in Georgia and Alabama.
Hine later called what he did for the NCLC "detective work," and in many ways he had to be as discreet and sneaky as a detective. Photo historian Daile Kaplan offers some insight into how Hine operated:

Nattily dressed in a suit, tie, and hat, Hine the gentleman actor and mimic assumed a variety of personas — including Bible salesman, postcard salesman, and industrial photographer making a record of factory machinery — to gain entrance to the workplace.
When unable to deflect his confrontations with management, he simply waited outside the canneries, mines, factories, farms, and sweatshops with his fifty pounds of photographic equipment and photographed children as they entered and exited the workplace.

Here's a selection of photos from the Library of Congress' NCLC collection, complete with the original, often very detailed captions:

Glass works. Midnight. Location: Indiana.

Vance, a Trapper Boy, 15 years old. Has trapped for several years in a West Va. Coal mine. $.75 a day for 10 hours work. All he does is to open and shut this door: most of the time he sits here idle, waiting for the cars to come. On account of the intense darkness in the mine, the hieroglyphics on the door were not visible until plate was developed. Location: West Virginia.

Young Cigarmakers in Englahardt & Co., Tampa, Fla. There boys looked under 14. Work was slack and youngsters were not being employed much. Labor told me in busy times many small boys and girls are employed. Youngsters all smoke. Location: Tampa, Florida.

Interior of tobacco shed, Hawthorn Farm. Girls in foreground are 8, 9, and 10 years old. The 10 yr. old makes 50 cents a day. 12 workers on this farm are 8 to 14 years old, and about 15 are over 15 yrs. Location: Hazardville, Connecticut.

Rhodes Mfg. Co., Lincolnton, N.C. Spinner. A moments glimpse of the outer world Said she was 10 years old. Been working over a year. Location: Lincolnton, North Carolina.

Nan de Gallant, 4 Clark St., Eastport, Maine, 9 year old cartoner, Seacoast Canning Co., Factory #2. Packs some with her mother. Mother and two sisters work in factory. One sister has made $7 in one day. During the rush season, the women begin work at 7 a.m., and at times work until midnight. Brother works on boats. The family comes from Perry, Me., just for the summer months. Work is very irregular. Nan is already a spoiled child. Location: Eastport, Maine.

Amos is 6 and Horace 4 years old. Their father, John Neal is a renter and raises tobacco. He said (and the owner of the land confirmed it) that both these boys work day after day from "sun-up to sun-down" worming and suckering, and that they are as steady as a grown-up. Location: Warren County –Albaton, Kentucky

Jewel and Harold Walker, 6 and 5 years old, pick 20 to 25 pounds of cotton a day. Father said: "I promised em a little wagon if they'd pick steady, and now they have half a bagful in just a little while." Location: Comanche County, Oklahoma

Lunch Time, Economy Glass Works, Morgantown, W. Va. Plenty more like this, inside. Location: Morgantown, West Virginia.

Charlie Foster has a steady job in the Merrimack Mills. School Record says he is now ten years old. His father told me that he could not read, and still he is putting him into the mill. Location: Huntsville, Alabama.

488 Macon, Ga. Lewis W. Hine 1-19-1909. Bibb Mill No. 1 Many youngsters here. Some boys were so small they had to climb up on the spinning frame to mend the broken threads and put back the empty bobbins. Location: Macon, Georgia.

2 A.M. February 12,1908. Papers just out. Boys starting out on morning round. Ages 13 years and upward. At the side door of Journal Building near Brooklyn Bridge. New York, New York.

Some of the younger boys working in the Brazos Valley Cotton Mill at West. One, Charlie Lott was thirteen years old according to Family Record, another Norman Vaughn apparently twelve years old was under legal age according to one of the other boys there, Calvin Caughlin who did not appear to be fifteen years old himself. These and two girls that I proved to be under legal age were all working in this small mill. It was an exceptional case, but it it [i.e., is] likely that as the children become tired of school later in the year, there will be many more at work. Location: West, Texas.

"I cut my finger off, cutting sardines the other day." Seven year old Byron. Location: Eastport, Maine.

A view of the Pennsylvania Breaker. The dust was so dense at times as to obscure the view. This dust penetrates the utmost recess of the boy's lungs. Location: South Pittston, Pennsylvania.

Noon hour in the Ewen Breaker, Pennsylvania Coal Co. Location: South Pittston, Pennsylvania.

Shuckers in the Varn & Platt Canning Company. This 4 year old in the foreground was helping some. Six of the shuckers were 10 years and up to twelve. Location: Younges Island, South Carolina.

Little Julia tending the baby at home. All the older ones are at the factory. She shucks also. Alabama Canning Co. Location: Bayou La Batre, Alabama.

A little spinner in Globe Cotton Mill. Augusta, Ga. The overseer admitted she was regularly employed. Location: Augusta, Georgia.

John Tidwell, a Cotton Mill Product. Doffer in Avondale Mills. Many of these youngsters smoke. Location: Birmingham, Alabama.

It was these photos, along with the detailed captions, that the NCLC distributed to try and educate and convince the public that child labor should be illegal. They would put the photos in newspapers, progressive publications, circulars and stereopticon slide shows.
In all, the Library of Congress has over 5,100 photos taken for the NCLC between 1908 and 1924, the majority of them taken by Hine. To learn more about Hine's important work in stopping child labor, head over to the collection's main page. And afterwards, be sure to browse through the 5,100+ photos in the collection by clicking here.
(via MetaFilter)

Image credits: Photographs by Lewis Hine courtesy of the Library of Congress

NASA Curiosity Rover Captures Photos of a Solar Eclipse on Mars

Posted: 07 Sep 2013 01:21 PM PDT

We've shared some amazing eclipse photos taken from Earth, we've even shared some amazing eclipse photos taken of Earth, but today marks the first time we've ever had the chance to share eclipse photos taken from the surface of a different planet.
On August 20th, the 369th Martian day of Curiosity's stay on the Red Planet, the NASA rover pointed its telephoto lens-equipped Mast Camera at the sun to capture something special: an annular solar eclipse on Mars. In all, Curiosity captured some 89 images that show Phobos, the larger of Mars' two moons, passing in front of the Sun.
phoboseclipse1

In the video at the top, the photos were played at about 2.75 frames per second to match the actual speed of the event on Mars. In 32 seconds you see exactly what Curiosity saw looking up above at the Martian sky.
Unlike our Moon, Mars' moons are too small to ever totally eclipse the Sun. In fact, according to the folks at NASA, this footage is as close as you could ever get to experiencing a total solar eclipse on Mars:

Because this eclipse occurred near mid-day at Curiosity's location on Mars, Phobos was nearly overhead, closer to the rover than it would have been earlier in the morning or later in the afternoon. This timing made Phobos' silhouette larger against the sun — as close to a total eclipse of the sun as is possible from Mars.

So be sure to check out the video at the top, and don't forget to keep reminding yourself over and over what exactly it is you're looking at. It's a solar eclipse on another planet… we still can't quite wrap our minds around that.

Sony Releases API, Allows Developers to Create Apps for Its WiFi-Enabled Cameras

Posted: 07 Sep 2013 12:37 PM PDT

Developers rejoice, you have another API to play with. In a recent move that should help bring more Sony apps to market, the camera manufacturer has released an API that will allow you to develop remote control apps for 8 of its WiFi-enabled cameras.
The Camera Remote API beta was released as part of the new Camera Remote App Development Program a couple of days ago. The hope, it seems, is that developers will jump on and create apps that will allow users to control their cameras from their smartphone and/or tablet via WiFi.
So far, only 8 cameras made the compatibility list — the NEX-6 is joined by the NEX-5R, NEX-5T, QX100 and QX10 lens cameras, MV1 video camera and two ActionCams — but not all of them are quite ready to be messed with yet.
lenscamproductcloser

Developers can already tinker with the QX100 and QX10, but all three NEX models listed must wait for version 2.0 of the Play Memories Smart Remote Control app to come out on September 26th, and one of the ActionCam models (HDR-AS15) will require a software update. Once the API is compatible with all of the initial cameras, more are set to be added to the list.
Interested developers can learn more about the API, access reference guides and check out a sample app on the development program's website. You'll also access to developer forums though which you can share ideas and troubleshoot, and US and Japan-based developers get the added bonus of official technical support from Sony itself.
(via DPReview)

Color in Filmmaking: From the First Color Photograph to Digital Color Manipulation

Posted: 07 Sep 2013 12:08 PM PDT

Long before there was any way to capture colors on film, filmmakers were hand painting their short movies frame by frame to breathe life into black-and-white productions. The desire to capture color, it seems, far precedes our ability to do so.
In the Filmmaker IQ video above, John Hess takes you through a comprehensive history of color in filmmaking. From hand-tinting, to Technicolor, to digital color manipulation, take a look and see just how far we've come when it comes to capturing the reds, greens and blues of our world.
Capturing color on film (rather than coloring it in) really began with James Clerk Maxwell when he took the first permanent color photograph in 1861. By combining red, green and blue filtered photographs of the same ribbon, he created this:

The first ever color photograph mentioned in the video. Taken by James Clerk Maxwell.

The first ever color photograph created by James Clerk Maxwell and SLR inventor Thomas Sutton.

It would be many years, however, before anything more than hand-coloring of film would truly begin. It wasn't till 1908 and the two-color additive Kinemacolor system that filming in color began. It was successful for a time, but then came the real breakthrough: Technicolor.
Initially a two-color subtractive system, Technicolor was patented in 1922 and continued to evolve steadily from then on. Nearly disappearing in 1932 due to high cost, it eventually came back with a vengeance and a new 3-strip system that's responsible for the beautiful and vivid colors in The Wizard of OZ and Gone With the Wind.
colorhistory1

That vivid look, however, still came at high cost. And so eventually Technicolor gave way to the cheaper Eastmancolor system that would carry us all the way into the digital age and the kind of film scanning and post-production first seen in The Coen Brothers' film O Brother, Where Art Thou.
There are, of course, many steps, names and dates in-between the major breakthroughs mentioned above, so if you want more detail, we highly suggest you carve out the 20 minutes it'll take to watch this whole educational video.
A history lesson might not seem all that exciting, but as writer Anthony Burgess once said, "It's always good to remember where you come from and celebrate it. To remember where you come from is part of where you're going."

Nova: The Card-Sized Color Temperature-Adjustable Wireless Flash for Your Phone

Posted: 07 Sep 2013 10:44 AM PDT

An external iPhone flash actually made our recent list of 13 photo gadgets we didn't need, but that doesn't mean we don't see the potential of a flash accessory for smartphones. That particular retro-tastic flash didn't suit our fancy; the new Nova wireless flash, however, has a lot more going for it.
nova5

Nova is a credit card-sized, color temperature-adjustable wireless flash that communicates with your smartphone through Bluetooth. In many ways, it's everything that the unsuccessful Paparazzo Light wasn't.
It's extremely portable, it's going to be compatible with both iOS and Android, it's wireless, and it allows you to control both the brightness and quality of the light you're using. Given that it's just a smartphone flash, the Nova seems to have all the bells and whistles you'll ever need … and then some.
nova6

The Nova consists of 40 LEDs mounted in rows behind a soft white diffusing panel. To use it, you'll simply open up the free Nova app, use a slider to select the quality of the light you'd like to use, and take the shot.
If you want to get more advanced, the app has you covered there as well. Nova's advanced mode pulls up a graph that will allow you to select exactly how warm and bright you want your light to be.
nova

Like the Paparazzo Light, Nova is relying on Kickstarter to get the funding it needs to make it to market. Unlike the aforementioned gadget, however, Nova is already fully funded … and with 29 days left to go.
The Nova team wanted to raise $25,000 to get rolling, and they've already accrued almost $26,500 from the 511 backers who have already demonstrated an interest in the wireless flash accessory. Here's the Nova Kickstarter video:
For now, Nova is only iPhone compatible, but Android compatibility for Bluetooth 4.0-capable smartphones is on the way. If you want to learn more or get your own Nova, all you have to do is head over to the Nova website or Kickstarter page and have your credit card ready.
You can pledge anywhere between $1 and $165, depending on the reward you'd like, but the cheapest you'll get your own pre-assembled Nova for is $55. Assuming everything goes according to plan, pledgers should have their Nova in hand by February.

Facebook Delays Troubling Policy Update to Address User Concerns

Posted: 07 Sep 2013 09:44 AM PDT

The dust has barely settled from the Instagram policy fumble, but it looks like parent company Facebook might be in for a similar upheaval.
The company's recently proposed changes to its Statement of Rights and Responsibilities and Data Use Policy — which were supposed to take effect on the 5th — have been delayed after users and privacy groups alike have voiced serious concerns.
As was the case with the controversial Instagram policy update, the issue is with the amount of rights Facebook is taking with your personal information and content — yes, that includes any photos uploaded to the site.
According to the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP), the update as it now stands would allow Facebook to use your name, likeness, content, images, private information and personal brand in advertising and in commercial content without any permission from or compensation for you.
facebookpolicy1

Even if you don't upload much info to Facebook, the ASMP points out that your content still might not be safe. One tidbit in Facebook's section-by-section summary says that they are collecting information "whenever you use or are running Facebook." which has the ASMP thinking this gives Facebook the right to monitor your activities and content even if, say, the app is simply running in the background on your phone.
That's not 100% clear from the language used, but the fact that Facebook is claiming the right to use your profile picture and content for ads without your consent (beyond agreeing to this update) or compensation is troubling enough. So troubling, in fact, that six consumer privacy groups have already teamed up and begun fighting this most recent update.
In a letter to the FTC, the groups claim that the new policy violates a 2011 settlement between the social network and the Trade Commission. They're asking that the FTC block the update in accordance with that agreement.

The response to the proposed updates has been less than enthusiastic.

It was shortly after this letter was received by the FTC that Facebook announced a delay in implementing the policy "to ensure that user comments are reviewed and taken into consideration." When asked, a Facebook spokesperson told The New York Times that he was unaware of the latest developments (read: the letter to the FTC).
Controversy or no, unless the FTC acts to block the update, the policy changes are still expected to go into effect sometime this week. Hopefully some revisions will be made that allow users a level of control over what Facebook can and cannot use, but that's by no means a guarantee.
If you have the time and interest, you can read the full worrisome document here, or check out the ASMP's FAQ about the update here. And if you'd like to voice your concerns with Facebook before the policy update goes live, the company has asked that comments/concerns be posted here.
(via ASMP and The Verge)

Image credit: Facebook Upclose by Ethan Bloch

Camera Dominos: The Result of 200 Spare Cameras and Too Much Free Time

Posted: 07 Sep 2013 08:10 AM PDT

Here's a silly video that'll start off your Saturday on a light note. It's called Camera Dominos and it's exactly what it sounds like: a couple of hundred cameras cascading one after the other to epic music.
Camera Dominos was put together by Fujifilm Australia Digital Training Specialist Warwick Williams and his daughter one lazy afternoon. His title explains how he managed to have some 200+ Fujifilm cameras just lying around…
cameradominos

When he's not lining up hundreds of cameras with his daughter and watching them topple, Williams is helping train Fuji enthusiasts and doling out advice through Fujifilm Australia's Web show "Top Tips."
Once you're done watching the video at the top, you probably wanna go check out that channel here. Camera Dominos might not have much of an application beyond putting a smile on your face, but we have a feeling you'll find the Top Tips episodes a bit more useful — especially if Fujifilm is your camera company of choice.
(via F Stop Lounge)