Reforms and Social Changes
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Work
Scenes from life
    
“Mechanical and clipped,
In the 19th century, under the influence of photography and realist artistic trends, labour became a focus of interest, in particular because certain photographers and artists documented working methods that were to disappear with increasing mechanisation, in both farming and industry. This trend was complemented by a fascination with new machines related to the development of steam power. Representations of crafts, rural work and industrial work can all be found. These representations show us that working conditions were still difficult, and that there was a multitude of very specialised professions and tasks that were often still dependent on local economies and products manufactured on site.
Workers, tight-lipped, Control the natter Of universal clatter The seething fever and screech That shreds, with its stubborn chatter, All banished human speech.” Emile Verhaeren |
Women working in a textile factory in Città di Castello (central Italy) at the beginning of the 20th century
1909 Archivio Tela Umbra, Città di Castello, Italy With increasing mechanisation, impoverished European women began working in factories such as this textile mill, where they were standing up all day in front of their looms.  See Database entry for this item
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