World Press Photo is an independent non-commercial organization founded in 1955 in Amsterdam. Every year they organize the most prestigious international contest for photojournalists. Their mission ’is to encourage high professional standards in photojournalism and to promote a free and unrestricted exchange of information’.
The picture I am going to describe was taken in Brazil by Eraldo Peres (Associated Press). The photo got Honorable Mention in the category 'Daily Life' (World Press Photo contest 2009).
Really sorry but it is prohibited to copy photos from the site. So here is the link.
http://www.worldpressphoto.org/index.php?option=com_photogallery&task=view&id=1479&Itemid=223&bandwidth=low
I think this is an incredible example of what photojournalism and photography as such are about. The decisive moment: a second earlier or later and presumably there would be different emotions, composition, color and what not. The photographer tries to be objective (no color modifications, no Photoshop tricks). He is an impartial observer and lets others make conclusions. Yet it is obvious that the purpose of the photograph is to attract spectators' attention to the problem, let them think, be emotional and responsive.
The picture is really horrifying. First, you can’t help but surf the image from one red colored object to another. The variations of red create a really strong rhythmic pattern. Everything looks normal. Ordinary, peaceful everyday life: guys on the left are talking, the girl in the background is laughing, and the one gripping the bars of the window seems to be bored. Then finally you look at the bottom of the photo and see the body. Small, dirty and abandoned. The blond guy is just marching by as if it were not a dead young man but just some junk left on the street.
People in Recife seem to pay no attention to death. Why bother? When it’s everywhere you simply stop taking care. It’s their everyday life. Nothing extraordinary. The tight framing and the body in the foreground make this scene look somewhat Biblical to me. The slums are just like decorations borrowed from old paintings. Somber colors with red dominance. The indifference of the crowd and fear in the air.
However, can we blame those people? They grew up in violence; they know that probably tomorrow it will be their turn to be in the foreground. This city is hopeless and doomed and the photographer just registers its gradual decay and secretly hopes that may be one day the government will somehow notice and care.
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This is a chilling image and I agree with your assessment of it. When one surveys the scene, the nonchalance of the individuals gathered around the corpse is horrifying (there is even a girl directly above the head of the dead boy who is laughing as if his death is funny).
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