Alice Austen was a photographer who captured the daily lives of people in New York City. She was born in 1866 on Staten Island where she captured many of her pictures. She took about 8,000 photographs capturing various parts of New York City. Her photographs documented the growth of the city along with immigrant populations and women’s social activities. Austen also photographed her lifestyle and intimate relationships between women. While at first Austen took pictures of her family and community displaying the social life of the upper middle class, she later became interested in the lives of immigrants at a Quarantine station near her house. The subject of immigrants in her photographs is especially important now as it shows a community that was rarely shown before they were allowed to go to Ellis Island. The immigrant community which began to grow in the late 1800s has continued to shape New York City as a whole to this day.
The photo above is called “Three bootblacks.” This image was taken in 1896 in south Manhattan. Three young children are holding shoeshine kits looking for work. The subject of child labor was a big issue in the late 1800s as children faced difficult working conditions while not attending school. Children were usually forced by their parents because of parents’ lack of income. While in today’s life child labor laws have been made more strict, many families struggling with making ends meet are having their children work just to have money to put food on the table. Some parents work multiple jobs but still need their children to work to afford rent. Alice Austen taking photographs of children working brings attention to the issue of child labor which is also an issue of the wealth gap in New York City. Alice Austen’s photographs of the overlooked communities of New York helped display the issues of her time that are still pertinent to this day.
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