Eugene Richards – Stepping Through the Ashes
Photograph 15 – Boy at a funeral.
1. This photograph is from a documentary series on September 11, 2001, it seems they were all taken both on September 11th and in the days and months following. This particular photo depicts one of many funerals for the first responders.
2. I believe that the photographer’s intention was to document this horrible tragedy in our city’s and our nation’s history.
3. This photo has deep space as the viewer sees people and objects both far away and closer to the camera. It also uses selective focus, as the main scene is sharp and the boy at the forefront is blurry. It makes me wonder if the boy got in the way of the camera or if he was an intentional part of the photograph.
4. The selective focus with blurriness of the boy adds intrigue to the photo, whether he was an intentional part of the photo or not, it makes it more interesting. It also shows how even the young among us bare witness to such tragedies. There is a relatively shallow depth of field as it appears the photographer is across the street, and the viewpoint is overhead of the funeral, but almost eye level with the boy.
5. The framing of this photo is unique as the boy’s head encompasses much of the photo and his head meets the top of the frame. Also there appears to be iron work on the right side of the photo giving it a soft edge on the right. This is in contrast to the crisp edges on the left and top left where the people and the building are cut off.
6. This photo reveals how many people are affected by tragedies, from the person’s immediate and extended family to his or her brothers in arms to the anonymous boy in the picture who may not have known the victim personally, but was there to pay his respects, presumably with his parents.
7. The immediate emotional impact is sadness as this is a photograph of a funeral. There is increased sadness that the boy is there, since he is looking away from the funeral proceedings, you are made to wonder if he doesn’t understand what is going on, or if there is something outside the frame that is related to the funeral that has caught the boy’s attention.
8. This photo is part of a documentary series on the aftermath of September 11, 2001. All of the photos are done in black and white and they all show the devastation that the terrorist attacks had on both the physical buildings that were brought down and on all the people affected. Two other photos I thought were poignant in the series are the graffiti laden storefront, until you realize that people were writing in the ashes from the trade center and they were all positive messages, the other is the hand reaching for the snow globe of the World Trade Center, someone looking for a remembrance of the buildings as they were, before the souvenirs were changed to include the dates that the buildings stood.
Your description of this photo is excellent. The contrast of both near and far and sharp focus and soft focus give this photo its drama. I am convinced that Richards took this photo on purpose, not by accident. The boy being out of focus makes it less about him, a particular boy, and more about all the children impacted by the tragedy and even the next generation. I like that you write that maybe the boy doesn’t understand what is going on. I think that is what gives the photo its poignance even more so than the death of any individuals. We see the impact on the future.