Cribs: 1913

I am a big fan of Lewis Hine and his documentary photographs. I really enjoy the snapshot quality he adds to the composition of his images. And the print quality is always great. He always manages to capture such a great moment on the faces of his subjects. Whether he manipulated and directed them or not, I don't think it matters. They still come across as natural and that is the important part.

How do you know what this photo is about? I looks like anywhere 1900 USA.

[How do we know what any of these photos are about? Because the photographers captioned them. - Dave]

You might have expected here, especially from Lewis Hine, a man for whom the camera was usually a weapon in a moral crusade, that the woman would be at least a little ashamed of being photographed like this: in flagrante, as it were. But look at her! She couldn't care less. That's such a wonderfully bold, amused, shameless look.

Love her mobcap -- soooo sexy.

Is tucked into the waistband. Most of these messengers who frequented the "Red Light" were making deliveries from pharmacies to the working girls -- probably patent medicines containing cocaine or heroin, along with prophylactics. This boy is shown in another Hine photo entering a "crib."