Harold Haliday Costain
American
1897 – 1994
I chose the image “Seamstress at Work in Factory”. In the image you see multiple women working together, hand sewing or altering men’s suites. There are no sewing machines in the image, as it would be very expensive to provide all of the women working with them, so the women would have had to do all the sewing by hand. Factory workers were not especially privileged at this time and these women likely worked grueling hours with very little pay. In the back of the image, the photographer included a man standing over the women. He was likely their boss/the employee who stood on the floor to ensure that work was being done. It is possible that this photographer was not highlighting the problems faced by factory workers as he captures the women almost looking happy, smiling and chatting while sewing.
Harold Haliday Costain, American, 1897 – 1994. Seamstress at Work in Factory. c.1935. Artstor, library.artstor.org/asset/28752086