The sad ways in which some photos blossom
Please take a look at the latest photo I just uploaded, “Wesly Ngetich, 2007.â€
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 to this article.
“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.â€
“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.â€
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.