In Teju Cole’s essay “Perfect and Unrehearsed,” one of my favorite photos is Bombardopolis Haiti by Alex Webb/Magnum Photos. This photo is a documentary type because it’s capturing an event that’s in action. This photo tells a story on a bright afternoon in 1986, where a woman and a man with a cigarette are going to a funeral with a donkey. I see a woman standing in a blue frock , I see the back of a donkey’s ears, I see a cigarette in the mouth of a man in a deep shadow. The dominant expression would be the woman in the blue frock and donkey’s ear were the first thing I caught. There`s no interaction amongst the people, it seems like they are neutral about the death of someone. The photo makes me feel strange, everyone in the photo was looking in different directions. The story seems like the people were heedless which concludes that the death might be of someone there not close to them. Attending the funeral in the hot Haitian town is going to cause fatigue and heat exhaustion. Additionally, this photo may be taken candidly, no one’s attention was on the camera, only the 2 little kids were looking at the photographer while he was clicking the camera.
Great post! Good details.
-Prof. Scanlan