Lewis Wickes Hine (1874-1940) was pioneer of social photography in the USA. From 1910-1940 he took about 15,000 photos, above all portraits of workers: his images of a steel worker on the Empire State Building, and of immigrants on Ellis Island, have become famous. He took poignant pictures of children at work, often secretly, commissioned by the National Child Labour Committee, and numerous photos during the American depression. Hine's photos tell the life story of the photographer who died in 1940, forgotten and in poverty.

We are presented with a selection of his photographs, and quotations from articles and Hine's letters. The portrait of the artist is completed by interviews with his colleague Walter Rosenblum, who worked in a coal mine as a child, and whom Hine photographed, and with the last surviving steel worker on the Empire State Building.