American Photographer. Hine was trained to be an educator in Chicago and New York. A project photographing on Ellis Island with students from the Ethical Culture School in New York galvanized his recognition of the value of documentary photography in education. He became a sociological photographer, establishing a studio in upstate New York in 1912. During the 1920s Hine began to call himself an interpretive photographer and organized exhibitions of his work, among them Interpretation of Social and Industrial Conditions Here and Abroad, which was shown at the National Arts Club and the Civic Club, both in New York City, in the fall of 1920. He exhibited his work in banks, at the Women’s Club in Hastings-on-Hudson, and at the Art Directors and the New York Advertising Clubs, both in New York City. Until he was commissioned to photograph the construction of the Empire State Building in 1930, Hine’s only income was from freelance work. Some of the photographs from the Empire State Building project appeared in his book Men at Work, published to considerable acclaim in 1932, and in the magazine the Survey in 1934. A portfolio of photographs of loom workers in textile mills was exhibited at the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago and published that year as Through the Loom and in the Survey. In 1936 Hine was appointed head photographer for the National Research Project of the Works Projects Administration, but his work for them was never completed. His last years were marked by professional struggles due to diminishing government and corporate patronage. Lewis Hine died in obscurity and abject poverty in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. (bio by: MC)  Family links:  Spouse:  Sarah A. Rich (1874 – 1939)* *Calculated relationship