Hidden Truths in Documentaries

Through N. Rosenbaums documentary, “America and Lewis Hine,” we see Lewis Hine is considered to be pioneer of photographical social documentation. From documenting child labor to the construction of the Empire State building Hine claimed to document America. In his work on child labor Hine sometimes had a hard time gaining access into the workplace to take photographs. Often he would wait outside until crews got off work and would have children pose for pictures in group photos. The resulting picture often was of ten or fifteen children--dirty and tired from a day of work--staring miserably into the camera. When viewing these photos we assume that the conditions in the work place are harsh and the child

ren are being worked to death. Most often this was the case, but the pictures don’t explain that because this child is allowed to work their family can put food on the table, or because this child is working the residents of New York have the cotton thread needed to make clothes. Virginia Lee Webb explains “the supposed purity of the medium fools people” (Doctoring, 77). Because we may see a young ragged girl staring into our souls through camera we feel for this poor girl. As Henry Mayer writes in, “Sociologist with Cameras,” we permit the lens to become our eye; thus what we see we believe to be true (Sociologists, 27).

Fredrik Wiseman’s controversial documentary, “Titicut Follies,” is another documentary that claims to tell the truth. In “Titicut Follies” the viewer is taken into the world of a hospital for the criminally insane. In an article titled “Documentary Becomes Engaged and Verite” Lewis Jacobs writes about a new form of documentary; cinema-verite. Cinema-verite or “truth film” is the kind of film that recorded life directly, without rearrangement or staging of any kind (Documentary, 247). The footage in “Titicut Follies” is left raw without a narration and this forces the viewer to draw their own conclusions from this “truth film.” Therefore, we make our own story out of what is seen and the lack of narration raises questions about certain details. Even though we may view a movie without narration, the images we watch are trying to make a point. “Titicut Follies” attempts to point out the horrible truth of a horrible situation. As Richard Schickel, in “Sorriest Spectacle: The Titicut Follies,” puts it: the capacity of man to visit inhumanity on his fellow man (Sorriest, 258). Because the director wants to get the point across that the criminally insane are being treated horribly in the hospitals they are sent to, “Titicut Follies” is shot from the perspective of the innocent criminally insane.

Lewis Hine claimed that he documented America but Hine left out huge portions of America in his documenting. What is almost invisible in Hines work is rac

Some topics in this essay:
Lewis Hine, Titicut Follies”, Lewis Jacobs, Band Comprised, African Americans, Scott Andrews’, American Chicano, Scott Andrews, European America, Historian Icon”, “titicut follies”, “school colors”, tell story, lewis hine, story told, criminally insane, racial barriers broken, images support, don’t story, eye believe, african american,