Friday, June 25, 2004

Public-Private Grieving I can't find the photo of Kim Sun-Il's family that first evoked my feelings of ambivalence ; it was a frontpage NYT photo of his parents grieving back in South Korea. Some photos of the family have been in public places; other photos show them at home shortly after they got the news that Kim Sun-Il was beheaded. Although the family let photographers in their home briefly, I felt some of the photos, while riveting, intruded on private grief. Here's a very similar photo from the June 23 NYT, which appears to have replaced the original photo I saw. The visual representation of trauma is an issue of growing concern given the ability of news media  and enterprising amateur photographers to provide quick digital imagery. Some would argue that the photos of the grieving tell a dramatic story, but others  would say that they know what grief looks like and do not need to see photos people undergoing such wrenching grief. What do you think? 6:43:45 PM     comment []

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