Following on from the previous post, I'm so touched by this set of images, that with kind permission from Reuters I'd like to share the entire sequence.
I first saw the pictures in French "Photo" magazine when attending Visa Pour L'Image in Perpignan earlier this year. Those that are familiar with "Visa" will know that its an incredible collection of exhibitions and projections of the best images from around the world. However, no other set of images touched me as much as Gleb's photographs of the mourning man holding his dead relative after their homes were bombed by Russian war planes in South Ossetia. I was standing in a little shop and looking through the magazine, and nothing during the whole week moved me as much. Incredible.
This is the caption that ran with the image:
A Georgian man cries near the body of his relative after a bombardment in Gori, 80 km (50 miles) from Tbilisi, August 9, 2008. A Russian warplane dropped a bomb on an apartment block in the Georgian town of Gori on Saturday, killing at least 5 people, a Reuters reporter said. The bomb hit the five-story building in Gori close to Georgia's embattled breakaway province of South Ossetia when Russian warplanes carried out a raid against military targets around the town. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich (GEORGIA)
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Im not so sure these pictures are authentic. Take a look at this blog: http://russia-insider.livejournal.com/25329.html
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link; it was interesting to see the other images and read the comments.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I for one, don't think they are fake at all. In my opinion, the guy in black in the first image isn't the same chap that's photographed later. Also, the wounded man who is being carried is just that, wounded! Why does he have to be dead? There's no stretcher, and with two people, there are no other ways to carry a person.
As far as the grieving man later putting on a shirt....well, so what?! I'm guessing he ran out of his apartment without his shirt and later on, at some stage went and got fully dressed.
On a related note, one of these images, rightly, won a World Press Photo award this year. I'm pretty sure that the judges would have cottoned on to any wrong doings from the photographer.
Also, after the fiasco pulled by a Reuters stringer in Lebanon a while ago, I know that a lot has happened internally to make sure the same mistakes and stupidity do not happen again.
Lastly, to me it seems that there's a fair bit of propaganda going on, on the blog you have linked to.
Still, in the spirit of freedom of speech and open debate, I'm happy to publish the link. If there is to be a conversation though folks, please lets keep it photographic and not political, thanks.
Hi Edmond,
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on this one - while I'm sure there is a lot of propaganda in any war (especially in the Middle Eat at the moment) I don't have any reason to suspect that any of these images are doctored or 'set up' in any way.
The problem always remains that a good military/regime 'pr' unit could set up pic opportunities and unassuming snappers might come by one and it would be captured for all the world to see. It is therefore down to the skill and experience of seasoned photogs to spot this and expose the propaganda for what it is.
Thanks for the post Edmond, great sep of snaps!
No I don't believe these images are faked. Having examined the image that guy in black is not the guy that is shown in later images crying. I have worked for Reuters & any image of this type was carefully reviewed and one question that was asked was 'Is it staged, you better make sure it's real'. These are a great set of images
ReplyDeletei saw a video of these images on the news during the war actually. so no i don't think it's fake.
ReplyDelete