Things Fall Apart
A bulldozer in Port-au-Prince deposits two bodies into the bed of a dump truck on the morning of Monday, January 18, six days after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck just southwest of the Haitian capital. Over 222,000 are estimated to have died in the quake, and 1 million are homeless, according to the United Nations.
Thomas Hurst is a veteran photojournalist who currently serves on staff at Mars Hill Church and was part of a team that traveled to Haiti on behalf of Churches Helping Churches. Look for more posts in coming weeks from Thomas as he shares his thoughts on particular images he took and moments he and the team experienced in their 32 hours on the ground in earthquake-ravaged Port-Au-Prince.
I’ve traveled to many third world countries in 20 years working in photojournalism. I’ve learned that there are developing third world countries and then there are disintegrating third world countries. I spent a good chunk of my career documenting the latter.
In a place like Haiti, you rely on a good driver or fixer, who can be key to your safety and success. There are no traffic laws or signs, much less enforcement, and consequently, a lot of traffic.
As I looked out the front window of our vehicle, I could see a large dump truck and a bulldozer blocking both lanes up ahead. My first reaction was to announce my frustration to the other men in the vehicle, but I caught myself mid-sentence, remembering where I was.
With collapsed buildings all around us, it was easy to assume that the dump truck was waiting to be loaded with rubble and rebar, so I began looking out the side window for something more interesting to watch or photograph.
A Haitian man was sitting on the sidewalk with a bandanna drawn across his face to help filter the stench of death that hung over the city, a large mural depicting Jesus Christ carrying his cross behind him. As I began taking the photos, my mind raced with ideas on how to frame the image, adjust the exposure, wait for the falling sunlight to catch his eyes. At that moment, I was sure that was the photo God wanted me to take.
The Tipping Point
Then I heard someone in the backseat calmly say, "The bulldozer is going to dump dead bodies into that dump truck."
I repeated the words in my head almost as coolly as I had heard them, but they did not register, probably because I had never actually heard someone string those specific words into an actual sentence before. But then, it clicked.
I whipped my camera around to the front window of the idling SUV and held the shutter button down. As the shutter flashed open and closed, I caught glimpses of the bulldozer’s large steel bucket, its sharp teeth tipping downward toward the bed of the dump truck, and the two bodies wrapped in sheets sliding out.
Black Thought
And then it was over. Only a few seconds to capture a powerful and poignant moment and I might have snapped five or six frames at most. I slumped back into my seat wondering if I’d caught it in any of those few shots.
When you sit back and think about the situation, it is almost mind-boggling: Haitians have to make the harrowing decision to somehow find a way (and funds) to bury their dead loved ones themselves or to leave their son or daughter, father or husband, mother or wife, on street corners for a dump truck to collect. Their situation was more horrific than any understanding or experience I have of "bad."
I felt a responsibility to convey the gravity of their situation. That’s what I felt was at stake as I took those shots of the bodies in the bulldozer’s bucket: Did I miss a powerful moment that could convey to people in a single instance how much love, prayer, help (physical and financial), is needed in Haiti? Or did I catch it?
Of the seven frames I was able to fire off in those few seconds, only one was sharp, and that was all I needed.
Do You Want More?
Churches Helping Churches has currently raised over $1.5 million dollars. Please don’t sit on the sidelines and think that you have nothing to offer or that someone else will go and do the work. Get involved.
By: Mars Hill Blog
on Mar 02, 2010