Let's Talk About "That" Picture

Hello everyone,

Christian here again, this time trying out a bigger, more readable font (let me know what you think of the change). I've been out of action for a couple of days now and really felt like I should wait until I had something truly meaningful to post again before writing. 

 I don't want to be posting dumb things all the time just to be "consistent"; on the contrary, I'd rather only post once a week if what I'm writing is something heartfelt or something that I truly enjoy discussing. It means my writing will be that much better and in the end, we will all benefit.

Anyways, like I said, I'm writing today's blog with a heavy heart.

If you've been keeping an eye on the world news over the past couple of weeks, you'll have noticed that recently fighting in Syria, and in Aleppo in particular, has really ramped up as the rebel forces and the Syrian government continue to wage war for control of strategic parts of the city.

During a very recent (read: 2 days ago) airstrike by either government or Russian forces on a rebel-held area of the city, multiple apartment blocks were hit by bombs.

Among the injured was a little boy, 5 year-old Omran Daqneesh.

At this point, you've probably already heard this story from any of the hundreds of news outlets that are reporting it or seen the picture online somewhere.

This has reignited the Syria argument and has really put a spotlight on the many tragedies and horrors the civilians there are forced to survive through daily.

In the video taken by Aleppo Media Centre, workers from the Syrian Civil Defense, more commonly known as the 'White Helmets' (read this absolutely incredible story on them HERE), pull out Omran from the rubble of a bombed-out apartment and rush him into a nearby waiting ambulance.

It's not unusual to see children suffering from injuries in Aleppo during these type of events.

But there are just some images, some videos, some things that will jar and wake up and shock a world such as ours; some just hit a particular nerve.

Similar to the stunning image published last year of young Syrian refugee Alan Kurdi, dead and washed up on a Turkish beach, this new image of little Omran looking dazed and stunned in the back of the ambulance has once again pointed a glaring spotlight on the Syrian conflict and it's disastrous consequences for everyone involved.

As a side note, I should add that having been in photography for a little while now and having a passion for it, and as such viewing tons of photography books, awards, top photographs, breaking news photographs, etc., this whole situation absolutely twists me up inside.

For one, I can't totally get behind the photographer seen in the video just snapping away pictures of the poor little kid.

I understand that as a breaking news photographer for a major news agency, your ONE and ONLY job is to get that picture and send it back to your bureau for publishing.

I understand that in addition to that responsibility, as a war photographer you often feel a moral responsibility to in some way enact social justice in a situation, to get a certain tragedy or event exposed so that people become aware of what is happening and feel compelled to do something.

Photographers are some of the best and strongest social activists I've ever come across.

There are just some situations where in my mind, its just not appropriate at all to be taking photos.

Photos like this one, like the one of little Alan Kurdi, or the infamous vulture photo taken by Kevin Carter.

I don't know, maybe I just don't have the mental steel to be able to just break all barriers and snap away no matter how tragic the situation unfolding in front of me is.

Maybe I'm just not cut out for that, but I have a feeling I'm not the only one who feels this way.

Now, on the other hand, I think now that the images and video HAVE been taken and published online, I support that they're out there and that people who would otherwise be uninformed and blind on the state of affairs in Syria can now be educated and have their eyes opened to just how bad it's gotten there.

Possibly, HOPEFULLY, in some way they will feel compelled to take action and push for change.

Again, do not misunderstand me, I think EVERY SINGLE DEATH I see and hear about is absolutely heartbreaking. That much should be clear for every human being with a heart and a conscience.

But there is something so incredibly distressing, so heart-rending, so painful, about seeing a child suffer the same pain and suffering as an adult.

I can't quite put into words why that is.

Maybe because in much of the world, we have this image of children as sweet, pure, innocent, and tender.

They haven't been exposed to reality yet and are living in their own little world.

They haven't lost their sense of wonder and adventure and haven't been weighed down with all the worries and stresses that life hits us with.

Even in a war zone like Syria, kids will be kids. They will play soccer and cards and fight and quarrel and smile for the cameras and laugh at jokes.

Yet in this moment, we see the innocence of poor Omran being savagely ripped away from him, never to be returned.

That little boy has never had a day in his life where there hasn't been war, death, destruction, and poverty surrounding him in his country.

But as he looks around at his surroundings, scared and timid, I can't help but feel that he has been thrust now into a world so foreign and alien from the one he should be experiencing as a young child of 5.

Maybe it was his haircut, long and floppy up top, cut in the shape of a bowl; or maybe it was his rumpled T-shirt showing the Nickelodeon cartoon character CatDog; or maybe its his mouth and his lips, open just enough to form a small ‘O’, the look of confusion and shyness spelled out on his lips; or maybe it’s his dazed, confused, slow and sad movements in the video. 

As he is rescued, he looks around in confusion, his chubby forearm draped trustingly across the reflective stripe on his rescuer’s back, before he is plopped into the chair at the back of an ambulance, lit blindingly white.

He settles into a thousand-yard stare, apparently too stunned to cry. Then he puts a hand to his bloody brow, looks at his palm in surprise, and tries to wipe it on the chair. He glances around, as if trying to understand where he is.

I don't cry too often at too many things, but I'm not afraid to admit this video made me cry openly. 

Again, I can't exactly pin the reason why. 

Maybe it's because just a few weeks ago, I myself was playing with Syrian-Armenian kids just like Omran. 

I replay their movements, their actions, the curious and shy look in their eyes when they saw the boy from America step into the room. 

Just like Omran, many of them had been caught up in the crossfire of a brutal conflict far more serious than they had any idea about. 

They looked like Omran, they dressed like Omran, they acted like Omran, they were just lucky enough NOT TO BE Omran.

And that, I think, is what hit me hardest. 

Any of those kids I had held and played with and laughed with could've been pulled out of the rubble in just the same way, bruised and bloodied and covered in a blanket of dust and dirt. 

Their lives were, and still are, so fragile. 

As I watched the video and blinked back tears, I can't help but hope and pray that Omran becomes a catalyst for change. True change within the country that brings a halt to the violence and pain and suffering being inflicted on thousands of souls daily. 

My heart and my best intentions want this to be fulfilled, but the facts and evidence tell me that this is only the beginning.

Lord, please let me be proven wrong. 

(the video of Omran's rescue can be viewed HERE)