Death in Benghazi, Libya

This photo was taken by Lynsey Addario. She and her coworker Tyler Hicks went to Benghazi, Libya to document chaotic events that had been occurring there. After reading a narrative of Addario talking about her journey to Libya and seeing the collection of photographs she had taken while she was there, this photo seemed to stand out the most. When you’re directed to the short NY Times article or narrative you are immediately shown this image of a recently deceased man, Mohammad Abdul Salam who had been killed in the fighting in Libya. Among the other photographs of the violence that is currently taking place there, this photo seemed to represent something different.

When looking at the photograph your eyes are instantly drawn to the lightest part, the man’s face. The small but defined light that appears on the man’s face is what I found so moving and appealing about the image. It forced your eyes to look only at the man on the table. It made me wonder what this man had been like while he was alive. Maybe he was a father or maybe he was a really awful man, but the fact that he died, what seems to be alone, is saddening. Addario doesn’t talk about this man or how he died. She mainly just talked about how the drivers refused to take her into where the fighting took place, her experiences and thoughts while she was there and what she and Hicks photographed during their stay.

This wasn’t the only collection I looked at on the website and because of the images I saw I don’t think I could ever become a documentary photographer because it makes me feel like hope is becoming scarce. In this photograph, specifically, I believe it could easily stand alone. Unlike the other photographs in the collection it evokes a different emotion that I can’t quite describe other than the overused line, “Well, it makes me sad.” Images as moving and thought provoking as this one does make me want to push myself to become a better photographer, but I still don’t think I could have done what Addario and Hicks did by putting themselves in such dangerous situations.

Stephanie Olson