Alison Nordstrm Interview

Alison Nordstrm: Hello?

Genova Brown: Hello?
Alison Nordstrm: Yes. Hello?
Genova Brown: Yes, sorry if I say this wrong, is this Ms. Nordstrm?
Alison Nordstrm: Yes, this is Alison Nordstrm.
Genova Brown: Hello, I am Genova Brown, from townsend harris, calling about Lewis Hine for
National History Day.
Alison Nordstrm: Okay, How can I help you?
Genova Brown: Okay, I just have a few questions for you about Lewis Hine.
Alison Nordstrm: Okay.
Genova Brown: Is it okay if I record you so that I can type up this interview?
Alison Nordstrm: Sure.
Genova Brown: Okay, thank you. So my first question is: why would you say that Lewis Hine
has left a legacy today?
Alison Nordstrm: Okay, so I think hes left a legacy through a couple of different directions.
One is in the area of social reform, the other is making the kind of photograph that is concerned
with social reform and making photographs that look sort of like his. So he has a legacy among
photographers and he has a legacy among people who want to change the world for the better.
Genova Brown: Okay thank you, and how vital were Lewis Hines photographs to the National
Child Labor Committee?
Alison Nordstrm: Well the change is they had used photographs before Lewis Hine, but his
photographs were better. They were also, lets see whats the word I want, they were more
effective. Also because he told a story with them and because he was trained in social work, he
was able to add a lot of information. So he wasnt just taking a single photograph, it was almost a
scientific study of child labor or a particular kind of child labor.
Genova Brown: Okay, would you say that is what made his photos so unique?

Alison Nordstrm: Well you cant really-- unique is a really difficult word and you cant say so
unique because something is either unique, one of its kind in the world, or not unique. I mean I
would say that his photographs are special today and are considered important by a lot of people
today. Kind of for the same two sets of reasons, theyre considered very important by
photographers because a lot of people think he was the first person to make documentary
photographs. Theyre also appreciated by people who dont care so much about photography, but
are really interested in the things he photographed. So people appreciate the child labor work if
they care about child labor or they appreciate the work from Ellis Island because they interested
in immigration.
Genova Brown: Okay and based on what you just said, do you think that, if it were the other way
around, do you think that the National Child Labor Committee was vital to Lewis Hine?
Alison Nordstrm: Well it certainly paid the bills for a long time. I mean its important to
remember that Lewis Hine was always, almost always, working for someone else. A lot of
photographers today find something that theyre interested in and take photographs of it and
Hine was always on assignment. So yeah, he was very important to them.
Genova Brown: Okay, do you feel that Lewis Hine doesnt get as much attention or
acknowledgment as other child labor photographers, like Jacob Riis, and that he should?
Alison Nordstrm: Well Jacob Riis wasnt a child labor photographer, he photographed poor
people and he photographed the slums, but his issue was housing for people. I think actually the
reasons why theyre often discussed together is in the context of social reform, but the work was
very different. I think that for the people who are interested in the history of photography or the
artistic theory of Hines photographs generally Hine is considered more important than Riis.
Genova Brown: Oh okay, and why were Lewis Hines photographs such a staple part in the
reformation of child labor laws?
Alison Nordstrm: Im sorry, say it again?
Genova Brown: Why were Lewis Hines photographs such a staple part in the reformation of
child labor laws?

Alison Nordstrm: Well they were used because they were efficient. I mean the child labor laws
were often in place, but they werent enforced. It was easy for people to say theres no child
labor here and so Hines photographs worked as evidence and people believed them because they
looked like truth.
Genova Brown: Okay and how does Lewis Hine show leadership in his approach to child labor
reform?
Alison Nordstrm: Well this is really where-- I mean leadership implies that because of what he
did, other people followed him. I mean i think you could say he was a pioneer, but one of the
interesting things about Hine is that he had a brief period early in his career where people were
paying a lot of attention to him and then he really disappeared. Thats really the story of the essay
that I sent you. Nobody knew who he was and when he died he was practically unknown. So you
probably cant call him a leader, but he was certainly influential and after his death people began
to appreciate the work as important modern art.
Genova Brown: Okay, and my final question is, can his legacy be seen in the Keating-Owen Act
of 1916, or the Fair Labor Standards Act?
Alison Nordstrm: Probably, I mean its the legacy not just of Lewis Hine, but of the entire
movement to reform child labor laws. And so sure you could say that child labor laws changed,
but its not the kind of direct evidence that you have with later photographers. You know Ansel
Adams photographs were used to encourage laws about national parks, so we know that. With
Hine I think its a much more general legacy and honestly I think his legacy as an image maker,
his legacy in the history of photography is more important than in the history of child labor. I
mean child labor isnt over, we just moved it out of the United States and moved it to Vietnam.
Genova Brown: Okay, thank you very much.
Alison Nordstrm: Youre very welcome, good luck.
Genova Brown: Thank you, Goodbye,
Alison Nordstrm: Bye.