Every day, extraordinary photographs appear online. They catch our attention for a moment, impress us, and are quickly replaced by the next image. I sometimes wonder whether I really need to see another beautiful sunset from a distant place. I am still undecided.
What I am less uncertain about is how quickly we forget images that do not connect with us. We remember through emotion. If we cannot attach a feeling or a story to what we see, the photograph may not stay with us for long. The challenge for a photographer is to create an image that gives the viewer a reason to care. When that happens, something special occurs: the photograph becomes more than a record of a moment.
When studying the work of accomplished photographers, I often find that they make a series of deliberate decisions, even when the final photograph looks spontaneous. I want to use an image by Ivan Del Negro, La disperazione di una donna al termine dei funerali, as an example.
What is the most important element?
A photograph can have more than one central character, provided each has a clear role in the story. In Del Negro’s image, the grieving woman is the emotional centre, while the people around her contribute to the context and intensity of the scene.
What can I prepare for?
The scene is clearly intense, with many people involved and affected. As a photographer, Del Negro had to find a position from which he could record what was happening without disrupting it. In documentary photography, you cannot arrange the scene. You have to be observant, anticipate what may happen and be ready when the moment arrives.
How do I create a story?
The emotional hook might be a facial expression, a gesture or a small detail. Here, the photograph captures the despair of a woman at a funeral. We immediately begin to wonder why she is crying and what has happened. The wider context gives the image its weight, while the photograph invites us to engage with the people in it.
How do I guide the viewer’s eye?
Contrast, grain and composition all contribute. The photograph is visually complex, and I suspect a colour version might have been more difficult to read. The strong black-and-white treatment directs our attention through the scene and helps establish a visual hierarchy.
Why do I want to take this photograph?
I can only speculate about Del Negro’s motivation, but I read the image in the context of the genocide in Bosnia. This is not a distant abstraction; it happened in the heart of Europe. In his writing, Del Negro describes the emotional connection he felt with the people he encountered. His photographs bear witness to a mass funeral and to the human consequences of that history.
The series Srebrenica, 11 July 1995 – 11 July 2015 is a powerful example of photography connecting us to a story and preserving a moment in time.
I had the honour of meeting Ivan Del Negro in 2014. His work has a remarkable ability to connect the viewer with a human story. I hope one day to make a photograph that moves someone in the same way, although I remain humble about the challenge.
The photograph reproduced here remains the copyright of Ivan Del Negro. Please respect the photographer’s ownership and the dignity of the people depicted.
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