The Hine photo above was probably taken in 1909 using a handheld camera 5x7 camera with magnesium powder flash. It's going to be pretty hard to duplicate today. Lewis Hine was not interested in print quality. His images were almost always reproduced, often on poor paper. Beaumont Newhall in a 1940 letter to Ansel Adams wrote: "I do not have a good Hine print. I have never seen one. He is not interested in print quality which is a pity.... Much news stuff is deliberately printed just for the reproduction. I've often felt that a news photography show should just be newsprint reproductions."

I have just been reading Lewis Hine published by d a p, which is a catalog of a European show that closes tomorrow in Madrid, and then travels to Rotterdam. I recommend it to anyone interested in Lewis Hine. It includes a facsimile of his "Men at Work" essay and examples from his major projects, along with interesting essays about him.