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Okay, ever since @johnedwinmason made the case for @kathphoto’s photograph of Dana Clark being pic of the year ( https://twitter.com/johnedwinmason/status/1340722455564922880?s=21) I’ve been making the argument in my head for this to win the feature photo category for the @PulitzerPrizes
This is was a visual editor does on her day off 
so hear me out
A good photograph has 3 important elements
1) content
2) composition
3) light
When photos get all these elements in one frame it feels like a jolt of electricity. You know when you’ve made something memorable
so hear me outA good photograph has 3 important elements
1) content
2) composition
3) light
When photos get all these elements in one frame it feels like a jolt of electricity. You know when you’ve made something memorable
Now *great* photographs on the other hand, transcend these 3 elements.
They are *great* not because of their mechanics but because inside the frame is a singular moment that illuminates a larger more meaningful universal truth.
They are *great* not because of their mechanics but because inside the frame is a singular moment that illuminates a larger more meaningful universal truth.
Now what makes @kathphoto’s frame *so fucking great* is that it illuminates not one but *many* truths.
It’s like a nesting doll ...
It’s like a nesting doll ...
It touches on multiple contemporary issues - covid, the US election, the BLM movement, childcare and a mother worried about exposing her child to folks not wearing masks.
But there is something else in this photo, a tenderness I’d argue that rarely gets praise.
Usually @PulitzerPrizes elevate peak action or tragedy. For a photo to have news value it’s usually *loud* and easily readable.
There is a PhD in this phenomenon for someone to write.
Usually @PulitzerPrizes elevate peak action or tragedy. For a photo to have news value it’s usually *loud* and easily readable.
There is a PhD in this phenomenon for someone to write.
But @kathphoto’s has a quiet power. A restraint. Kath maintains a distance so you can feel the care transferred from a mother to her child from an invisible threat.
They are in focus. They are what matter the most. The reader’s eyes goes directly to the white letters on her mask, then they dart up to her eyes and then come down to the little fingernails on the child’s hands.
You are transported, breathing the air inside her safety bubble.
You are transported, breathing the air inside her safety bubble.
Anyways, thanks for taking a trip inside my head. Thanks @kathphoto for making this frame.
And if you want to hear more from Dana Clark read this:
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/amphtml/salvadorhernandez/dana-clark-viral-photo-early-voting-covid19-blm
And if you want to hear more from Dana Clark read this:
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/amphtml/salvadorhernandez/dana-clark-viral-photo-early-voting-covid19-blm
