22Hansel Mieth and Otto Hagel

Photographer’s Forum, November 1994

The photographs in the book The Heart Mountain Story were taken in January 1943, by Hansel Mieth (1909–1998) and her husband Otto Hagel (1909–1973). While there are photographers who distance themselves from their subjects, thinking that is part of the credo of the “photojournalist,” the photographs of the Heart Mountain Relocation Center were made by two people who, in their own experience, understood just what was at stake. Photographs of compassion such as these are the result of the photographers bringing much more than just camera and film to the assignment; they come from bringing the hand to where the heart is, and communicating a kinship with their subjects. This is what ...

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