Author: Samuel Perez

My favorite photo in Teju Coles’ essay “Perfect and Unrehearsed” was “A young Haitian man grieving at the funeral of his mother in Port-au-Prince” by Maggie Steber. The photo is more emotionally touching to me as the way the man is grieving and the way multiple people must hold him down as if the man is trying to reach out to their mother. The use of photograph here is amazing and even Coles recognized it as he praised it. The multiple appearance of the cross around the photo and the people holding the man down wearing bright colors give so much feel to the photo while the man grieving is wearing black. The lighting of the photo helps so much as well with the sun covered by the clouds but bright around the man who’s grieving. In a way, i can be seeing this as the man being pulled into the light. Also, the use of photo essay can be implemented as so much of this photo can tell someone what’s going on. Without the title of the photo, someone will still understand the context behind the photo with how the people are dressed and (again) the use of the cross.