Being a photographer myself, I enjoyed looking at the prize-winning Pulitzer photos immensely. As usual, I found myself analyzing the angles and the focus, etc, but more than that, I found it hard to choose a monumental, argument-making photo. Obviously, since they ALL won the Pulitzer, they ALL make a strong statement.
Eventually I settled on a photo that is relevant to us today, taken by 2005 winner Deanne Fitzmaurice. It is of an Iraqi boy nearly killed by an explosion. There were more photos in the series, all documenting the process of healing the boy and integrating him back into society. This one speaks to me the most, however.
When a person first looks at the photograph, their eyes are automatically drawn to the boy's "hands," or lack-there-of. The picture plays on the emotions: "how horrible," "how sad," "how amazing." More than simply the absence of real hands, one sees the marker and the boy drawing on the paper just as any other child his age would.
His scars. His hands. His recovery.
It's all in the photo.
What I think is remarkable is that despite how the boy was changed physically, it is evident that he still is a child. He may have lost his hands, and been burnt all over his body, but he still is going to draw a picture. What a powerful picture...
ReplyDeleteFor me this picture is all about the contrast between the simplicity of the activity and the complicatedness of the boy. When I think of children coloring the atmosphere is always carefree, but this picture makes me feel anything but carefree.
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