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Look of despair


Look of despair
Photo Information
Copyright: Adam Scotti (ascotti) Silver Star Critiquer/Silver Note Writer [C: 15 W: 0 N: 48] (250)
Genre: People
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2007-01-21
Categories: Daily Life
Camera: Canon EOS 40D, Canon 28-70mm f/2.8L
Exposure: f/2.8, 1/125 seconds
Photo Version: Original Version
Theme(s): Rwandan Genocide [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2008-01-14 7:56
Viewed: 967
Points: 6
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
This is one of the rooms in the Murambi Memorial located outside of old Butare now known as Hiyue in South Western Rwanda.

50,000 students, parents, teachers and members of the community sought refuge in the school. some were told they would be safe in the school. Once all in the school houses, the militia surrounded them, throwing grenades inside the windows. After they had their so called fun shooting and lobbing grenades, men went room to room with machetes dismembering everyone one by one. Your killer most likely would have been achildhood friend or close neighbour.

There are around 7 mass graves dug at the memorial hosting the majority of the 50,000 people. The government believes by putting the bodies and bones on display reminds people of the atrocities that were committed. Furthermore, their display enables no one to claim it never happened. The bodies are covered in lyme to ensure that they do not deteriorate any further, or at least not as quickly.

The smell is overwhelming. Walking through each room, you only see as many as you want out of the 40 some rooms - we went into around 10, the smell begins to stay with you. The smell stayed on me until we got home and all took showers, although the smell stayed inside our system for the evening, so everytime you blew your nose or took a deep breath, the smell of death and lyme was present. My camera gear still smells very strongly of the mixture.

i find it an interesting contrast having black people the world seem to brush aside, eventually become the same colour as those who did not think it their place to intervene.

The windows are covered with tarp in order for the light not to speed up the decomposition process or heat the rooms to the extent where the smell spreads beyond the school houses. Some tarps are blue, others grey. I was lucky enough to get this pinkish-orange one which added what i thought was great lighting.

It it a weird subject to shoot for the fact that when you go home, you don't know what happened.When asked if i got any good shots, i said i thought so. Then it hit me, how the hell can you even say such a thing on such a upsetting subject matter.
sreeharig, CatherineD, Keitht, whereami, Alex969 has marked this note useful
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Critiques [Translate]

very touching capture and an excellent Note, thanks for sharing the crude realities from this part of the world.

Hi Adam,
Very impressive image and note. This things must be told everywhere, to prevent a new genocide. Never again...
Thanks for sharing.
Catherine

I'm not sure that critiquing such an image is really appropriate, but posting it here most certainly is. The clearly identifiable human skull leaves us in no doubt as to what we are looking at, or what people are able to do to each other.
"Good shot"? To me a good shot is one that serves its purpose. On that basis this certainly is a good shot.

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