In the documentary “A Glimpse of Life: The Pulitzer Photographs,” photojournalists who made history with their work share their experiences and a bit of the story behind their famous photos. Among the photographs that it mentioned, there is the heartwarming “Faith and Confidence (1958).” It shows a moment of connection between a police officer and a little boy during a parade. The officer bends over to talk to a little boy and they smile at each other. William C. Beall captured the moment. The boy, fascinated by the exploding fireworks, was trying to get closer and the officer was kindly explaining to him why it was unsafe to do so.
Faith and Confidence (1958).
Another impressive photograph is “The shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald (1964).” Robert H. Jackson captured the exact moment that club owner Jack Ruby shot the alleged assassin of John F. Kennedy. The photographer was there thinking he would just get a photo of Oswald being transferred to county jail. He had missed a chance to photograph the assassination of Kennedy a couple of days before because he had no film in his camera. Jackson had no idea he was going to take such a historic photo. In the photo, you can see Oswald’s face twisted in pain and shock as the bullet hits him.
In “Lull in the Battle (1975),” four muddy men are slumped against an earthen bank. The place looks like a battlefield, except these are not soldiers. They are firefighters. Their pensive look shows they are still processing what they have just gone through. Photographer Jerry Gay got to the site and took the picture after the men had put down the fire.
There is one picture that is especially heart-wrenching, and that’s “The Agony of Omayra Sánchez (1984).” Omayra Sánchez Garzón was 13 years old when a volcanic eruption demolished her home and she ended up pinned beneath the debris of her house. She remained trapped in water for three days. Unable to get her out of the water without amputating her legs, and lacking the resources to do so, doctors decided it would be more humane to just let her die. Frank Fournier, a French reporter, took the famous photo of Sánchez. The picture is a close-up photo of her face. Her whole body is under muddy water, only her head and hands are visible. Her hair is short, black and curly and she is wearing small golden earrings. She has dark circles under her eyes and the whites of her eyes are dark red. So dark, in fact, that they merge with the natural brown color of her iris. Her hands are so pale compared to the mocha color of her face that they seem to belong to someone else. Those were her final moments.
A dramatic picture with a happier ending, “Water Rescue (1997)” shows a firefighter trying to save a teenage girl who’s trapped by floodwaters. The water swirls furiously around them. Photographer Annie Wells was at Matanzas Creek in Santa Rosa when she saw the girl in the water and the firefighter going to her. Wells knew that the girl was either going to die or be saved, and that would be the picture Wells would get. Thankfully, the rescue was a success.
Photos with children crying can be distressing to look at. “The Elián González Raid (2000)” is one of those photos. Elián González, only 8 years old at the time, survived a dangerous crossing from Cuba to the United States by boat. All the other refugees died, including his mother. In the photo, he is being taken by force from his American relatives to be sent back to his father in Cuba. The photographer, Alan Diaz, was authorized by the family to wait at the house and take the photo, as they were aware the raid was going to happen. You can see the moment a soldier opens the closet where a man is hiding with González in his arms. The boy looks straight at the soldier and cries.
Every single photo in the documentary has an impressive story behind it. It is a privilege to witness such intense moments even though we were not there. We can establish an intimate connection with people whose lives and realities are so different from our own, all thanks to fearless professionals who were willing to lend us their eyes.
