[Nurse-midwife Maude Callen examining throat glands of young boy]

Your Mirror: Portraits from the ICP Collection
Section: Labor
The December 3, 1951, issue of Life magazine published the moving and powerful story of Maude Callen (1898–1990). Trained as a nurse and midwife, Callen lived in Pineville,
South Carolina, and worked tirelessly to provide care to people living in the poor and remote surrounding areas. Photographer W. Eugene Smith, on assignment for Life, photographed Callen for six weeks during her work at the clinic and on her rounds to see patients. Smith was deeply moved by Callen’s work and her endless dedication to the people who needed her care. He wrote: “No story could translate justly the life depth of this wonderful, patient, directional woman who is my subject—and I love her, do love her with a respect I hold for almost no one. Humble, I am in the presence of this simple, complex, positive, greatness; on and on in her self-appointed rounds beyond paid for duty.”