The Comfort of Strangers
If you have never personally experienced a natural disaster, it is hard to imagine what you would feel, think, and how you would act if you ever had to go through one. It’s hard to think about how you would feel if you were trapped in a hole surrounded by water with no way out. You have concrete pressing up against your body creating pain and stress. You are stuck alone helpless holding on for dear life trying to stay alive. While picturing this in your head, add on the fact that you just witnessed a volcano erupt demolishing everything in its way that wiped out an entire city in just minutes. This would be a very scary situation. This was a very real situation for a young girl in Columbia.
The photograph I selected is a real life photograph that was taken in 1985 by a photographer named Frank Fournier. It was displayed on the BBS News along with many more news media’s across the world. The photograph was taken in Nevado del Ruiz, Columbia after a volcanic eruption. The photograph depicts a girl, Omayra Sanchez, trapped in some kind of barrier surrounded with water and debris. You see Omayra holding on to pole in arm’s reach by just a few shriveled up small finger tips as she was trying to keep her head above water. The photo is naturally lit as if it was taken shortly after the volcanic eruption. There is a slim variety of colors displayed in the picture. There are several different shades of brown along with some whites and grays. As you see in the picture, the dirty water that Omayra is sitting in is turned brown by all of the debris from the volcanic eruption. The pole that she is holding on to along with the sack that her hand is rested on is also a shade of brown. Omayra is wearing a white shirt that floats up on her back as she waits, stuck in the water. The first thing that catches my attention is the eyes of Omayra. Her deep, piercing eyes are staring directly into the camera as if she is starring you down. It is almost as if she is frozen in place, or that she has been taken over by some kind of unnatural being, or even as if she has been hypnotized. The different colors and lighting evoke somber emotions since they are more muted and darker.
The photograph is composed so that the main focus is on her and only her. There is not too much going on in the picture besides her holding onto the pole. This simplicity lets the eye of the viewer be guided to what is most important. The photographer uses a technique called depth of field. They focus in on the main object of the picture, which in this case is Omayra, and blur out the background. They use this technique in pictures to make the viewer pay more attention to what they want the person looking at and really get the message across. They focus on Omayra and her expressions to make the reader feel bad for her and what she is going through. It is the intention of the photographer for the viewer to focus on her struggle alone rather than the struggles of the whole community going through the disaster.
As you look at Omayra, you can tell she has been through a lot in the past few hours or days. It is also apparent that she is at a loss of words and has a lot of different things running through her head. Being a thirteen-year-old girl that is all alone and stuck, it is hard to have hope and direction. She has no idea if she is going to survive. She does not know where her family is or if they are even alive. So many things could be constantly running through her head at the time that could add to the massive amount of stress that she already has due to the situation.
As I look at the picture, I think of all the things that Omayra could be thinking about and how she feels to be in the situation that she is in. What is she thinking about as she stares into the camera? Is she wondering why the photographer is standing there taking a picture of her in distress fighting for life and why he is not helping save her? I want to know if she is in more of a shock state where she does not know what has happened and why she is where she is at, or if she is just thinking about what she has lost and what the future is going to be like for her. I think that the photographer and the publisher of this photograph wants to inform viewers of the devastation and wants to question what is going through the little girl’s head as she sits in thought of what is going to happen to her. I feel like that they almost want you to think about how you would react and feel if you were in the shoes of Omayra Sanchez with no way out. This mode of photography and thinking allows the photographer to not only depict the situation, inform the public of the suffering that can happen. It is also a great plug to get the public to donate their time or money to causes such as these. It is one thing for the media to explain situations going on in the world around us, but pictures evoke emotions and understanding that words can’t.
When I first look at this picture, I feel that the photographer is trying to convey all of the troubles that people are suffering throughout the world. I got the impression that she is just one example of what people can go through on a day to day basis. At any point in time, there can be a natural disaster that can ruin and destroy the lives of many. Natural disasters can affect people on a local, national, and even global scale. The disasters can range from a hurricane or a tsunami to an earthquake. In this case, it was a volcano. Volcanoes are one of the worst kinds of natural disasters because of the many facets of disaster they can bring. Not only is the lava damaging, but the smoke and ash can cause severe medical problems. The photographer wants to connect the audience to the picture and make them feel emotional as they look at Omayra as she sits stuck in debris with no way out. They also want the audience to feel a need to do something about the situation and help. They want to get the image out into the public so that when there is a natural disaster, like the one captured in the picture, people will feel the emotions that they felt from the picture and make them want to go out and help. By using emotionally assaulting imagery like this one, the media is able to non-verbally advocate for help and support from the world with these things.
As I first game across this image, my brain was flooded with questions relating to what was being depicted. I wondered why the photographer was taking picture of Omayra while he was stuck up to her neck in water with no way out. I wonder why he didn’t try to help her or save or. As I looked into the image and information surrounding it, I discovered a news article that talked more about the situation. The author of the article described how the photographer could not help her, so all he could do was capture the moment. Others had already attempted to rescue the little girl and failed. She was along with hundreds of others who were stuck and unable to be helped. All that someone could do was sit there with the girl and talk to her to make her feel like she had someone there with her. Also, if there was not a photographer there to take the picture then the disaster would not be documented. The world would not know the severity and desperation of what was going on across the world. They also wouldn’t have been able to support one another through prayers and donations.
I discovered that Omayra was found three days after the volcanic eruption. When she was first found, people said that she was dazed and confused. She was not sure what was going on and was in a shocked state. She was also going in and out of consciousness. She kept telling the audience around her that they needed to take her to school because she did not want to be late. People around her could only pray for her and all the others trapped and hope that they will be about to make it through all of the pain and suffering.
One of the most important elements to portray the situation was the coloring, attitude and facial expressions of Omayra, and realness of the picture. Since little was done to edit the photo, it is able to make the viewer feel as though they are in the situation with the young girl. Even though the volcano is important, the photographer is trying to express that the suffering that this little girl is going through is so much more important. By putting faces and emotions to the situation, it becomes more relatable to the audience. This makes people think about how it would make them feel if it were them. It even makes people consider how they would feel if they found out their daughter or sister was stuck in a situation like that without anyone they love around.
Omayra’s situation is one of deep distress. It is so sad that a young girl is put in a situation like that without any loved ones. We can never know what it is like until we are faced with the same struggles. Omayra had to accept her unfortunate fate. Her confused and dazed state was a way of her mentally avoiding the situation at hand. Deep down, she had to know that there was no way out. With that thought, there was no hope. That’s why the photographer felt the need to photograph the situation. He wanted to pay homage to Omayra and share her suffering with the world. He wanted the world to know that there are more dire situations around the world than the ones we encounter every day. He wanted to show the importance of the comfort of strangers in tough situations, and how even from our own homes across the world we can give a piece of comfort to someone in need.
