The sad ways in which some photos blossom

Please take a look at the latest photo I just uploaded, "Wesly Ngetich, 2007."

I looked at it once when I proofed it, determined the flare and blur was too much, and put it aside.

That was seven months ago. So why is this image posted now if I didn't like it?

Well. Today I received a news alert from the Duluth News Tribune stating the following.

"While with his tribe Monday, Ngetich became involved in the political violence that has swept through Kenya since the disputed re-election of President Mwai Kibaki on Dec. 27."

"According to information provided by his manager, Hussein Makke of West Chester, Pa., Ngetich was killed by a shot through the chest with an arrow in his hometown region of Trans Mara, Kenya. Ngetich, married with three children ages 8, 6 and 1, was 34."

That was enough for me to pull out the contact sheets from that day and look at it again. With new eyes, and a somber mood given the unfortunate circumstances of the subject, the photo now open up, and present to me its true story.

Seven months ago, I was caught up in the technical failures of it, but now I see past that haze, and can pick out subtle details that I hadn't noticed. I had never seen before that he wasn't running, but instead gliding as both of his feet are off the ground as the pounding sun pushes him along. Do I need worry that I didn't throw enough flash out there to illuminate his face? Not as all. We see a runner, in perfect runners form. All the ID we need is the number on the bib.

Am I just over reacting and artificially trumping up a blurred photo in my own head? Maybe. Maybe not. I'll let you make your own decision if its good or not. But, I guess for me, that this is just a cold, hard lesson on how context can trump technique. It is just sad that such a tragedy had to happen for me to realize what I had captured.

External Info

• Grandma's Marathon defending champ killed in Kenyan violence - MPR News
• Kenyan Marathoner Killed by Arrow - New York Times