Photos That Changed My Life: 3
August 30, 2007
Iraqi War Orphan, © 2005 David Leeson/The Dallas Morning News
David Leeson, ACU alum and 2004 Pulitzer prize winner, spoke during the Centennial Celebration at Abilene Christian University. I remember sitting in Cullen Auditorium as he walked us through several images he had captured while embedded with a unit in Iraq. Something in me resonated when he said, “I truly believed, deeply and passionately believed, that there existed a series of photographs, or a single photograph, that could end war. I wanted to find that one photo.” A worthy life’s endeavor…
I can’t remember if he showed this one that night, of if I discovered it while looking through his website, but this one image still stands out to me. It jumps, screaming, to the front of my mind’s eye every time I hear a news report of another bombing, or another attack. It really doesn’t matter, anymore, whether they are American bombs or the improvised devices of “insurgents.” Kids die, or are burned, and are made orphans regardless of the nationality, or the noble or ignoble intent behind them.
This photograph may not be the one to end all wars, or even this current one, but it comes pretty damn close. It makes me wonder, if every person responsible for pushing the buttons that launched bombs or rockets or mortars, on either side, had this photo taped up next to them, might it give them even a second’s pause? I know there are some who are so hardened by their past, or so committed to their mission (either from a President or from a Deity) that an image like this wouldn’t deter them for an instant. But, perhaps the thought of a burned, wounded, broken orphan could be just the thing for penetrating the armor so many build around themselves, and allow the humanity of the other to fully penetrate.
This photograph changed my life in ways I don’t fully comprehend yet. It impacted me on several different levels. As a human being, it gets you right in the guts. As a photographer, one hoping to work in situations to expose the dark underbelly of humanity, it strikes me that you have to be incredibly committed to your work to be able to stand in the presence of a burned baby and press a shutter-release button.
Posted in PTCML, Photojournalism
August 30th, 2007 at 11:24 am
Jesus, man. Don’t blast that right up on the screen with no warning. Give viewers an option.
I do like your idea in principle, though I don’t think the photo should be forced on trigger pullers. It should be forced on the American electorate, who as sovereigns over their country, are responsible for everything its government undertakes, including the condition of this baby.
August 30th, 2007 at 11:35 am
I wrestled with putting it behind a “More” tag, but in the end I decided not to. It’s not like I’ve ever been known as the most sensitive chap, and something about putting it behind a screen seemed wrong. People should see it, and then deal with the visceral, emotional or intellectual response…
And, this is my cynicism showing, but because the baby appears to be a little on the “brown” side, the impact is lessened. I think if this had been a white baby, not something that could be identified as “Mexican” or “Middle Eastern,” then the electorate might be a little more concerned. As it is, the jump from “Brown” to “Terrorist” seems too easy for many to make…
August 30th, 2007 at 10:29 pm
I am a grandpa now, this picture brought back visions of Vietnam ,I cryed again.
pictures won’t ever stop war I don’t know what will. but keep trying.
August 31st, 2007 at 9:41 am
These types of photos are horrible but necessary to wake people up. Thanks for doing this.
August 31st, 2007 at 1:26 pm
Photos like this used to not bother me as much. Of course, it’s atrocious. Of course, it’s a gut-wrenching tragedy captured on film. But before, I felt pity. Or concern. Or frustration. Or angst.
But now that I have a son of my own, I feel something completely new when seeing something like this.
I feel fear.
Fear that this should ever happen to my boy. Fear that this could be the son of someone else I know, that another parent should ever have to look at me and know what I have compared to what they’ve lost.
War, like anything deadly, is terrifying. Roller-coasters are terrifying (on a VERY different level), because there’s the (remote) possibility that this hurtling journey could kill you. I think we need pictures like this to make us feel the fear of war right in our gut, instead of abstracting while staring at CNN.
August 31st, 2007 at 2:38 pm
GKB, Looks like you’re not the only one with this idea…
“”In Vietnam, when we saw the images and the sorrow of the people we were traumatizing and killing, we saw the soldiers wounded and brought back in body bags. We see none of that in this war,” De Palma said.”
“Redacted” stuns Venice
September 2nd, 2007 at 8:10 pm
Wow…