Steve Hartman, a CBS News correspondent, embarked on a personal project to document the emotional impact of school shootings. After realizing the repetitive nature of news coverage on such tragedies, he reached out to parents of victims, asking if he could photograph their untouched children's bedrooms. His initiative struck a chord, resulting in eight families agreeing to participate, allowing for over 10,000 images to be taken. The project aims to move beyond mere statistics and evoke a deeper emotional response to the loss and grief felt by the families affected by gun violence.
Hartman began asking himself: "How do we shake ourselves out of this? What do we have to do to care again?"
He noticed the country growing numb. News coverage was shorter. Friends would ask about a tragedy and then say, "Which one was that?"
Hartman started mailing letters to parents, asking if they had kept their child's bedroom untouched, and if so, whether he and photographer Lou Bopp could document it.
From the hundreds of letters he sent, eight families said yes. Hartman and Bopp captured more than 10,000 images from inside bedrooms that the families could not bear to disturb.
Collection
[
|
...
]