Comments on: laura boushnak – survivor https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2009/03/bomb-victim-by-laura-boushnak/ burn is an online feature for emerging photographers worldwide. burn is curated by magnum photographer david alan harvey. Sat, 18 Jun 2016 08:45:48 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2.4 By: Krissy Borst https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2009/03/bomb-victim-by-laura-boushnak/#comment-34943 Mon, 06 Apr 2009 03:09:25 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=2066#comment-34943 Laura,

Viewing your image was like a poetic punch to the gut. It speaks volumes without being heavy-handed or cliche. What’s missing from the frame is what makes this image. My heart aches for the senseless pain and suffering inflicted on those living in war zones across the world.

Best of luck in continuing your work.

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By: Kyunghee Lee https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2009/03/bomb-victim-by-laura-boushnak/#comment-34578 Thu, 02 Apr 2009 05:08:42 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=2066#comment-34578 Laura,

It is very strong and meaninful picture.
I usually feel and read pictures sufficiently first and after then l read captions.
When I look your work first…. very strange …where is the upper part of the body???…:))

Thank you very much for sharing.

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By: Kathleen Fonseca https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2009/03/bomb-victim-by-laura-boushnak/#comment-34527 Wed, 01 Apr 2009 21:35:48 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=2066#comment-34527 hi bb(Homer)

gotcha, Bob..yeah, it occurred to me afterward that two links might trigger auto spam alert..thanks for confirming that!

:)
kathleen

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By: yang tom https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2009/03/bomb-victim-by-laura-boushnak/#comment-34499 Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:31:58 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=2066#comment-34499 “Young Tom, I didn’t use flash in this image. The white spot on the wall is from the natural light coming through the door on my right :)”

I had assumed … always bad to assume and at first glance this photo is full of assumptions, many of them wrong, making it all the better :))

Every time I look at this I also see the faint ghost of movement in the left (right in photo) foot. Slightly disturbing, and just another very subtle touch in a great photo. Congratulations again Laura on your important work done very well.

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By: bb(homer) https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2009/03/bomb-victim-by-laura-boushnak/#comment-34498 Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:28:14 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=2066#comment-34498 ps. your origial comment had 2 links:

a) the aftermath project

and

b) WP link to spencer’s discussion…

it’s a useful help: we list 1 link per/comment..

cheers
b

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By: bb(homer) https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2009/03/bomb-victim-by-laura-boushnak/#comment-34497 Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:26:37 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=2066#comment-34497 Kathleen:

your comments (or rather, everyone’s) get ‘moderated’ automatically if you include more than 1 link to a website (this is a spam protection device by WordPress)…i use to ALWAYS get moderated…not by David, but by the software….although, no i am considered spam, so if i gype in my real email or weblink or name the software blacklists me as spam (thus i use this moniker)….so, it wasnt that you were moderated, but that all people are if they post more than one hyper-link….so now, i try to post 1 link per comment…

hope that helps

b

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By: Kathleen Fonseca https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2009/03/bomb-victim-by-laura-boushnak/#comment-34495 Wed, 01 Apr 2009 13:37:25 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=2066#comment-34495 DAH

hi! yes, it was really weird..there was a band in a different color..i don’t recall, maybe light orange with white letters and it said my comment was being moderated. That’s all. It was at the bottom of my text and ran horizontally all the way across. I thought this was something new but when i made a post to Brigitte et Bernard it did not appear. So i was curious too. i thought maybe the moderating text was keyed to comment length or something since my comment on Survivor was much longer than on Brigitte et Bernard. Oh well..anyway, that’s what i saw..:))

kathleen

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By: bb(homer) https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2009/03/bomb-victim-by-laura-boushnak/#comment-34493 Wed, 01 Apr 2009 12:07:07 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=2066#comment-34493 David :))))

i TOTALLY hear you :)))…i think this 1 photograph (which is utterly singular) is an entire essay in itself…as witness, as powerful indigment of war, as visual puzzle, as truth, a photograph, it is remarkable…and that’s all we needed…that it makes us QUESTION our basical visual assumptions and arrogance is an astonishment and I am so happy Laura sent it in and that you FOUND it through all the submissions :)))))…and wanting to see the Essay is totally NOT a criticism of you or burn…this photograph really really slapped me wide wide open….i just hope that all viewers take the time to go to her website….

for me, always, the best work CHALLENGES viewers and their preconceptions, FORCES them to LOOK AGAIN/THINK AGAIN/QUESTION AGAIN…whether it is with Journalism/Documentary (as it is here) or with Conceptual/Art, doesn’t matter…as long as the viewer is offer an opportunity to be challgened, not to serve up their preconceptions…

am almost finished the ‘text’ for M’s picture (the text is very short, for Bob black)…will send it soon (been a tough 2 weeks, with reality: like health and grant $$ shit, etc)….

finish your EPF first (M just sent her stuff in too) and then we’ll work on the other stuff (editing)….text soon to come…

hugs
running
b

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By: david alan harvey https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2009/03/bomb-victim-by-laura-boushnak/#comment-34492 Wed, 01 Apr 2009 12:04:59 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=2066#comment-34492 KATHLEEN..

what are you seeing?? there is nothing set up by us to “hold comments”..once in awhile , because of the built in spam filter, something will get hung up (as is Bob frequently), but this is not done on purpose by us….anyway, i check from time to time to see if any legitimate comment is being held in spam or otherwise and is released…

cheers, david

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By: david alan harvey https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2009/03/bomb-victim-by-laura-boushnak/#comment-34491 Wed, 01 Apr 2009 11:58:47 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=2066#comment-34491 BOB…

you are eloquent as usual…i count on you….

i too would love to have published the whole essay…but, Laura did not submit her whole essay….it all looks so obvious when a single is up and the link is cleanly below…but, if i , or anyone, had to play investigative editor and try to dig around and see what else each single submitter had, it would be yet another full time job…and a lot of back and forth with the photographer to have everything re-submitted, re-sized , re-built…the singles come in at a different size than the essays etc etc etc..

even if i had several editors here it would be very difficult to “second guess” who was submitting what…i think we will just have to go for what the photographer wants, not what they should have done….however, i will write a post recommending to all photographers that if they have a single from an essay, they should submit both…some do this already….

actually in Laura’s case, maybe the single was all we needed….certainly the most powerful of her images..and it forces us to go look at the rest….

anyway amigo, your suggestions, and the suggestions of others, always most welcomed….

as soon as EPF over, we can start working on the very best way for you to work with guest editors and writers…..i want it to be a rewarding experience for all and with minimum life impact….

cheers, david

cheers, david

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By: bb(homer) https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2009/03/bomb-victim-by-laura-boushnak/#comment-34487 Wed, 01 Apr 2009 11:15:59 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=2066#comment-34487 A remarkable photograph…i’ve been ‘obsessed’ by it for 3 days now…for all the reasons written above…and the essay is also remarkably powerful, but it is this photograph that re-invents US, the viewer, challenges us and denies us and then forces us to re-define our idiotic visual and self-aggrandizing, dump-ass reactions/thoughts/assumptions about what it is we see and how we trump ourselves all over the god-damned place spouting out innocuous platitudes about photography and life and then yet, in the end, it allows us to become ourselves again, visually: to feel heart break in the wince of a moment…

I would have loved that the ENTIRE essay be shown, but, the singularity and the intelligence and ultimately the compassion of this photograph is extraordinary, the way to create real empathy for the victim by challenging the viewer to be WRONG in their assumption is a remarkably agile, effective and ultimately powerful tool to speak and witness the truth of others suffering….

the chord straps like white ligaments exposed, utterly devastating…

thank you for sharing with us….

running
bob

ps. david, yes, i saw the thread between the two ideas/concepts of ‘apparel’…what we cloak ourselves in to confuse, to blind, to sublimate ourselves, what we cling to vs. what we are forced to wear by necessity or truth: we are really made up and what we kid ourselves about….in the end, for me, the irony is heartbreaking too….the world, sadly, more often wears old dresses of starlets and tears us, and rather imagines the lives of the children whose dream would simply be to wear a pair of jeans, naturally…..

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By: Herve https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2009/03/bomb-victim-by-laura-boushnak/#comment-34474 Wed, 01 Apr 2009 05:11:03 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=2066#comment-34474 A superb image that no other medium but photography could render so potently, yet all done with the soberest means. I like how the sofa designs help retain the visual focus on the legs, by swirling around it. Nice touch with the correspondance of the dancing legs in the poster. Thank you Laura.

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By: dimitri https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2009/03/bomb-victim-by-laura-boushnak/#comment-34463 Wed, 01 Apr 2009 02:13:28 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=2066#comment-34463 CONGRATULATIONS. No need to say anything more.

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By: gina martin https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2009/03/bomb-victim-by-laura-boushnak/#comment-34462 Wed, 01 Apr 2009 02:07:24 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=2066#comment-34462 this is great. i too had to look twice at this. nice job.

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By: Laura Boushnak https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2009/03/bomb-victim-by-laura-boushnak/#comment-34436 Tue, 31 Mar 2009 20:36:02 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=2066#comment-34436 Thank you guys for ALL the comments and great feedback. Your words provide me with such great strength to continue this difficult project.

Kathleen, thanks a lot for the advice and links.

Young Tom, I didn’t use flash in this image. The white spot on the wall is from the natural light coming through the door on my right :)

Michael, still in Moscow?

I would also like to share the background of this shot. When I first started my project, Mohammed was the first victim I took photos of. I met him three months following his accident. I saw him recently after almost two years. I was sitting in their living room talking with his sister and waiting for him to come back. When he first entered the room, I was really happy to see him able to walk again. Unfortunately he doesn’t like to wear the prosthetic legs so often, as he finds them difficult to adjust to. He sat in front of me, we chatted a bit. He wasn’t in the mood to be photographed so I respected his wish, put down my camera and continued talking with his sister. Then he excused himself and said, I want to go to my room, and that’s when he took off his legs.

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By: Lassal https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2009/03/bomb-victim-by-laura-boushnak/#comment-34386 Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:21:13 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=2066#comment-34386 LAURA …
please do submit this photograph to any fitting contest you can possibly find.

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By: Kathleen Fonseca https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2009/03/bomb-victim-by-laura-boushnak/#comment-34348 Tue, 31 Mar 2009 05:49:11 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=2066#comment-34348 my comment is awaiting moderation? eeks…when did this start?

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By: Kathleen Fonseca https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2009/03/bomb-victim-by-laura-boushnak/#comment-34347 Tue, 31 Mar 2009 05:48:02 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=2066#comment-34347 Hello Laura!

First, do you know of The Aftermath Project? “War is Only Half the Story”..I have Volume I and there is nothing in that book that is more powerful than your photo. If you don’t already know of this project (hint, there are GRANTS!), please see here:

http://www.theaftermathproject.org/

Beyond that, when i saw this, i was jolted by the strange disconnect, the ghostly, magical disappearing act. The end of his legs is so abrupt that it grabs you and holds and makes you want to know why. Maybe i am still gullible but my first thought was not photoshop. My first thought was simply “why?”. When i read the text, i looked and looked at these crazy sneakers, socks and totally cool jeans. And i began to imagine the rest of Mohammed and the shock of this totally cool, today guy with his legs blown off in a cluster bomb halfway around the world brought the war home practically to my own house.

I had a similar experience when i first viewed Spencer Platt’s photograph captioned “Young Lebanese drive through devastated Beirut Neigborhood, 15 August” that won first place in World Press photos for 2007. Go here for the photo and a video of Spencer discussing the experience of shooting this photograph.

http://www.worldpressphoto.org/movies/index.php?moviename=01PLATT.swf

Your photograph and Spencer’s photograph produce the same palpable knowing that war is not just inanimate shrouded natives dead in the dusty streets (as if that wasn’t bad enough). War is about real people and real loss. He said it better than i can:

“We often think we know what war looks like but it is not until we get to war that we realize it looks like us”…

Wonderful photograph..an honor to “meet” Mohammed, with or without his legs. I wish him a better future than the governments of this world have shown him so far.

my very best:
Kathleen

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By: Jan https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2009/03/bomb-victim-by-laura-boushnak/#comment-34344 Tue, 31 Mar 2009 05:15:26 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=2066#comment-34344 I too thought this was a trick of photoshop until I read the caption and then reeled with the meaning of it all.

I can understand why somebody mentioned they found the left so heavy in the picture. I think it works well though, because to transitions to the right and the light naturally and in the direction of the raised foot. The fan pointed down toward the feet and in movement—this black static piece of metal moving while what we associate withe movement (feet) is so doomed to be still on its own. And then the subtle parody of artificial life in those roses–who are blocked from view my metal and mechanics–like flesh asphalt and a bomb….to painful reminder of a still life on the beach in the upper left.

Powerful, sublime, delicate, astounding.

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By: ben roberts https://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2009/03/bomb-victim-by-laura-boushnak/#comment-34321 Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:49:15 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=2066#comment-34321 good photograph. cheers.

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