this post was submitted on 18 Jul 2024
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[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago (4 children)

What has happened to their hands?

[–] [email protected] 13 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (3 children)

I actually know a bit of backstory about this photo - it was a series on child labor in the south, and these are photos of oyster shuckers for the Maggioni Canning Co. around 1911.

I'm assuming shucking oysters are rough on the hands, so it could be wounds, but it also looks like crusted-on dirt, so I'm not sure.

Here's another photo where you can see their hands a bit better:

And here's the original untouched photo:

Courtesy of the Library of Congress archives

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I just wanted to add about the stares. Photos back then required the target to be very still ao they are just probably trying their best to keep still.

Most photos of children failed because they moved. These were very still, hence the tension in their eyes, or just a lucky shot. Anyways, photos from way back always look like death for this reason.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Reminds me of the grim (or beautiful, depending on how you look at it) practice of photographing the deceased, especially children, during the Victorian era. Dressed up and posed, sometimes with living family in the same photo. Part of the reason being the exact fact that they wouldn't move during the shot.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

This is a hilarious photo of they weren't in such conditions.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

Thank you for the context and source! Definitely mud and dirt...

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

If it isn't AI (geeze have to question everything now), I would hazard a guess that it could be various injuries from textile machines or something.

It could also be just standard "major ouchies incurred as children" but grew back oddly due to lack of access to medical care.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

This image has been around a long time, it’s not AI. The girls are (IIRC) oyster shuckers. So hand injuries are gonna be a thing.

Edit: found information about the girls and the photo here.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

Enlightening! Thanks for taking the time and sharing what you found! I'll be sure to give that a read. Very much appreciated. :)

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago

Didn't even notice that at first. All I could see were the thousand-yard stares

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Unsure if AI image, or product of horrific work environment....

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

not a.i. ... check the comment from @hoch