Hine, Lewis. Soulmaker: The Times of Lewis Hine by Alexander Nemerov.

Princeton University Press, 2016.  Hardcover with dust jacket. New in original shrink wrap.  1st edition, 1st printing. 191 pages. 114 color and 10 black-and-white illustrations.  An excellent book by Stanford University Professor Nemerov, who has also written about other photographers, including Todd Hido and Ralph Eugene Meatyard.  Nemerov discusses Hine's photographs, the people in them (some recently identified like the girl in the cover photo), the context in which they were taken, and Hine's life. Soulmaker includes several color photographs by Jason Francisco of sites Hine photographed. Issued at $45. Summary:

Published in 2016 by Princeton University Press, Soulmaker: The Times of Lewis Hine by art historian Alexander Nemerov is a lyrical and meditative re-evaluation of one of America’s most famous documentary photographers. Rather than a standard biography, Nemerov offers a deep philosophical reading of Hine’s work during the early 20th century.

Core Thesis: Photography as "Soul-Making"

Nemerov argues that Lewis Hine did more than just document social injustice or advocate for child labor laws. He contends that Hine used his camera to "make souls"—to bestow a sense of individual dignity, mystery, and interiority upon subjects who were otherwise treated as mere cogs in the industrial machine.

• Beyond Reform: While Hine is historically celebrated for his role in the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC), Nemerov focuses on the aesthetic and spiritual qualities of the photos.

• The Moment of Encounter: The book examines the "hushed" quality of Hine’s portraits, where the subject’s gaze creates a profound, almost sacred connection with the viewer.

Key Themes

• The Industrial Sublime: Nemerov explores how Hine positioned small, fragile human bodies against the massive, cold steel of factories and tenement housing, highlighting the tension between the individual and the Gilded Age's machinery.

• "The Times": The book situates Hine within his specific historical moment, linking his visual style to the poetry, philosophy, and social anxieties of the early 1900s.

• The Art of Detail: Nemerov provides close readings of specific photographs, focusing on minute details—a stray hair, a dirty hand, or a distant expression—to argue that these elements reveal the "soul" of the sitter.

Structural Approach

Unlike a chronological history, the book is organized into short, evocative chapters that focus on specific images or themes. Nemerov’s prose is highly stylistic and poetic, mirroring the sensitivity he finds in Hine’s lens.

Significance

Soulmaker shifts the conversation around Lewis Hine from social history to art history. It portrays Hine not just as a reformer with a camera, but as a sophisticated artist who found a way to preserve the "haunting presence" of the working class against the vanishing effects of time and poverty.

"Hine’s photographs are not just about what is wrong with the world, but about the eerie, beautiful, and stubborn persistence of the human spirit within it."