Photos in the Wind, the film
Photos in the Wind, a Joplin Tornado Story Trailer from Abbey Hoekzema on Vimeo.
Image: 049-013-005
Photos in the Wind, A Joplin Tornado Story is a short documentary about a church music director working with the help of his small town in Carthage, Missouri to rescue, preserve and return lost photographs after the deadly May 22, 2011 EF5 tornado that struck Joplin, a neighboring city.
The three-quarter mile wide tornado ravaged six miles of Joplin, claiming 160 lives, destroying buildings and homes, and tossing debris into Illinois, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana. Among the debris swept away were thousands of photographs documenting the daily lives of Joplin’s residents for generations. In the days following the tornado, The Lost Photos of Joplin project was created in order to rescue and return Joplin’s lost memories. 
Photos in the Wind explores the passion, sacrifice and dedication to preserve more than 35,000 pictures and is an intimate look at altruism and sacrifice in the aftermath of Missouri’s worst Tornado in recorded history.
