Statement of Artist:
During the American industrial era, the need for labor drew the youngest of workers into the labor force. Without safety provisions or fresh air, children were forced to work long hours for little compensation. The pale gaunt face of the child worker was brought to the attention of the American people not only by labor leaders like Samuel Gompers but by writers such as Sinclair Lewis and photographers such as Lewis Hine. After decades of struggle, the United States gradually began to implement child labor laws.
The focus of my recent photography has grown directly out of my work as an occupational health physician. Eight years ago I began to study the effect of work on the health of adolescent workers in Minnesota. It was surprising to find an almost complete void of information about the health problems encountered by young workers in the United States. Further, like many people, I thought that child labor had largely disappeared and did not realize that over 150 million children worldwide still work in order to sustain basic needs.
Over the last six years, I have photographed children working in a variety
of occupations in the United States, Mexico, Thailand, Nepal, Bangladesh,
Turkey, Morocco, Indonesia, and India. In general, working conditions in
developing nations are far inferior to those in developed nations. Health
problems are compounded for children because they are more susceptible than
adults to the types of illnesses and injuries associated with occupational
hazards. For example, children develop dust-related lung diseases, from
arduous work in brick factories and stone quarries, more rapidly that do
adults. Child carpet weavers suffer from the development of degenerative
joint disease by the age of twelve; other children contract unknown illnesses
from working inside chemical-filled leather tanning drums. My personal challenge is to present photographs that raise questions such as:
- Under what circumstances and conditions should children work?
- What is the nature of work conducted by children in different parts of the world?
- How do we draw the boundaries between what we do and do not allow children to do?
- What role should the nations of the world play in controlling child labor?
- What
alternatives to work do children have and how are these alternatives
decided from nation to nation?
Above all, I hope that my photographs will serve as a witness to history. Thank you for taking the time to reflect on these images.
This Gallery is an outreach effort sponsored by the HSPH Occupational Health Program, the Harvard-NIOSH Education and Research Center (ERC), and the Kresge Center for Environmental Health at the Harvard School of Public Health.
David C. Christiani, MD, MPH, Director, ERC
Program Office (617) 432-1260Joseph Brain, ScD, Chair, Kresge Center for Environmental Health
Center Office (617) 432-1270Funding is provided by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Grant No.T42/CCT110421, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), Grant No.5 P30 ES000002 .
For additional information on these programs, please visit NIOSH-ERC and NIEHS.
Masters of Public Health (MPH) and Masters of Science, (MSc), and Doctor of Science (DSc) degrees are offered through programs in Occupational Epidemiology, Industrial Hygiene, Occupational Health Nursing, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Occupational Health Care Research and Policy, and Hazardous Substance Training.
Harvard School of Public Health
Photographs by Dr. David Parker.Any public or commercial use of these materials including reproduction, alteration, transmission or redistribution, of the images, without prior written permission is not permitted and is a potential violation of federal copyright law.
Anyone wishing to use images herein provided for commercial use or publication must first request and receive prior permission by contacting Dr. David Parker.
HSPH gallery, copyright, 2001, President and Fellows of Harvard College