An Eye Towards Justice: The Photographs of Hansel Mieth and Otto Hagel

Curator Tour – by Labor Archives and Research Center Exhibition
at: Special Collections Gallery, J. Paul Leonard Library, San Francisco State University – 1630 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132

 Hansel Mieth and Otto Hagel created a compelling body of work documenting the critical social transformations of the 20th century in the United States.  After emigrating to the United States around 1930 just as the Great Depression began, they became itinerant farm laborers, and this experience led them to believe the purpose of their photographic work was “to contribute to an understanding of the inequities of the world.”  The exhibition highlights their images of the economic hardships of the depression, the transformations to the Bay Area brought by World War II, communities and individuals standing up for justice, and longshore workers facing the impact of mechanization. 

Exhibition generously funded by the Friends of the J. Paul Leonard Library.
For more info:  (415) 405-5571

(Image:  The Davidson Family in Government Housing Near Marysville, California )