Ruth Orkin: Frames of Life

A chronology of the life and work of Ruth Orkin (1921-1985). Julie Harris narrates, with Orkin herself sometimes heard on the soundtrack talking about her life. A few friends (Mary Ellen Mark, Ninalee Craig, and Orkin’s husband, Morris Engel, among others) tell stories or give appraisals. Most of what we see are her photographs, plus a few scenes from “Little Fugitive,” which she edited. She was born in Los Angeles, hung around movie studios, and wanted to be a cinematographer but her sex made that impossible. She bicycled across the US, chronicled daily life as well as photographing famous people, and, as a mother of young children, took pictures out her window overlooking Central Park.