The Power of the Camera
One of the early sections of "The Connie Maxwell Story" describes the plight of orphaned or impoverished children before the advent of child labor laws.
This was a problem about which many in the public were unaware, or if they were aware, the magnitude and severity of the suffering wasn't front of mind. That is until the pictures of Lewis Hine and a few other muckraking photographers began to be published. Hine traveled the country documenting the problem and produced some of the most heart-wrenching photographs of children ever taken.
I was reminded of Hine's work again recently through this story in The Washington Post that I encourage you to check out. I'm grateful for the work of Lewis Hine and others who helped shed light on the societal neglect of children and push forward the modern idea that children deserve the dignity of a childhood.
Here's the rough cut of the sequence dealing with the history of orphanages from the documentary project.
