EDITING PHOTOGRAPHS

I spent much of today going through envelopes of pictures I took in Iraq last year at about this time. I am donating three to an online auction in support of DOUBLETAKE, the fine photography magazine.

I spent a good portion of my time between picking images, reliving the trip itself. On one of the last CDs were images from a visit to one of the hospitals in Baghdad where there were victims of the bombing, burn victims, gunshot victims etc. I had completely blocked this part of my trip from my mind. I came upon one shot of a man badly burned over his entire body. It disturbed me greatly. It was the only one of all the pictures which I called my wife in to see. I was in the process of warning her that the image was awful and she might choose not to look. But before I could finish, she was in the room. She looked for no more than a split second and then said, "Yes, the world needs to see that."

I still haven’t decided whether or not to include it in the gallery. I mean, it is a picture nobody would want to buy.

But I’m going to think about it—and consider whether or not to show it. On one hand, the picture almost makes me sick. I remember one of the guys I was travelling with at the time, saying to me after we left that particular room in the hospital, "I don’t know how you do it—I could never do that." I’m not sure I know how I do it. Just cut off all emotion. Looking through the camera lens makes it a little easier. It makes it seem like a job. But looking at the photo a year later, it was no longer a job. I was a viewer looking at a picture of shear horror.

I try to write about what I find that is calm and peaceful in life. But, perhaps it will do some good towards creating peace for the world to see such a terrible sight.