<P> Hine's subjects included both boys and girls employed by mills and factories and other occupations all over the United States . For the average American, Hine provided an otherwise unavailable window into the somber working conditions facing America's youth . When asked about his work on the subject Hine simply stated that he "wanted to show things that had to be corrected ." Hine's work resulted in a wave of popular support for federal child labor regulations put forward by the NCLC . In effect, Hine's photographs became the face of the National Child Labor Committee, and are among the earliest examples of documentary photography in America . </P> <P> Lewis Hine was an influential photo journalist in the years leading up to the First World War . It was during those years that the American economy was doing well, and the need for labor was at an all - time high . Cheap labor was necessary, and American businesses were not only looking for immigrant workers but also child labor as well . The factory - oriented jobs were very specific, and a child was a perfect candidate for the work that was necessary . Their small hands and energy was beneficial to the assembly line </P> <P> There was a shift in thinking in the early 1900s towards an end to child labor . The argument from reformers, as they were called, was that child labor was a sick cycle that was inevitably going to end in a future of poverty for the children in the work force . The long hours were robbing children of not only an education but a childhood as well . </P> <P> Lewis Hine became an investigative photojournalist for the National Child Labor Committee in the early 1900s . </P>

Who opposed the reform efforts of the national child labor committee