Mark Ovaska – City in Mourning
On April 3rd, 2009 Jiverly Wong, depressed by economic hardship and aggravated by his poor English language skills, walked into the American Civic Association in Binghamton, N.Y. and opened fire. Within moments 13 victims were dead. As news of the tragedy spread and the victims were identified, the city of Binghamton began to mourn.
For more information on helping the families of victims visit Binghamton’s website here.
Photographs: Mark Ovaska
Website: http://ovaska.com
Thank you everyone! I really appreciated the words… (Even the critiques.)
I’m familiar with the work of almost everyone here; a great group of very talented people. I look forward to meeting all of you who I haven’t. Soon.
Matt: Good to hear from you!
Andi: Thanks!
Lisa: Where have you been? I have one of your images from the fires stuck in my head.
Bob: An encouragement as always, thanks.
hi mark.
chunky kudos for producing a set of clean and highly publishable photos.. usable from newspapers and magazines to .. more.
i thought the piece was a great example of a journalistic approach and as such has produced just the kind of conversation which probably needs to be had around the issues raised.
it´s a different shape of photo story than has appeared here for a while.. and welcome as such.
the issue is much more important than the photographs themselves and as such any critique by me is redundant – you´ve achieved a discussion on guns.. an estimable result.
keep on..
jim..
your figures for uk gun crime, and us for that matter, are wildly inaccurate..
where they come from friend?
da
x
Mark;
Congratulations on a fine essay. Clear, concise and to the point. It’s been interesting to see how this essay has sparked conversations on the issue of gun control.
Here in NZ we are in a similar position to Lisa’s in Oz. Most guns are used for hunting and target shooting. There are very few pistols, and what are available are used for target shooting, and a special licence is needed to own them. The licence has very strict guidelines and usually the handguns must be left locked away at the pistol club.
Here’s a link explaining the situation here.
http://www.police.govt.nz/resources/1997/review-of-firearms-control/
Hunting is a huge part of NZ culture. All game animals are introduced pest species that are wiping out our native forests. Most people hunt for the pot and freezer, or to eliminate pests like rabbits, possums and wild goats. And Lisa, we’ve even got wallabies!! The only native mammals in NZ are two species of bats.
Possums are a plague devastating our native forests. Each night they consume about 21,000 tonnes of vegetation (300 g wet weight per possum x 70 million possums). So every possum a conservationist kills saves 109.5kgs of vegetation annually.
Mark, thank you for sharing your essay with us.
Cheers
I don’t speak much on the subject of gun control. I know this killer had two legal handguns. Here in Hawaii it is so difficult to get a gun permit. You have to be certified sane and healthy, and/or at least disclosures made about any conditions. Would he have passed the rigor of these examinations if his state had the same regulations? Probably.
Without people guns are useless. You can outlaw (no pun intended) guns to try and prevent tragedies like this; however, guns are not the only weapons that kill.
I can’t decide about this essay. I’ve watched it twice. I don’t even like to think about this subject any more than the apartment. It seems like we are in one of those rashes of crimes like this one. People want to blame the economy for their crimes of passion, when there again, the economy doesn’t kill people. People kill people.
Can I imagine being as despondent as this man was when he chose to make himself feel better by killing these people? Yes. Can I imagine inflicting my own misery on others by killing them and setting in motion more grief than is imaginable? No. Therein lies the difference.
You can’t legislate humanity. See why I don’t like talking about these issues? Ick.
I tremble as Carrie said thinking of hitting the submit button. I may think a moment…
Lee
this is all bullshit..
There is no guns in USA ( or Texas )..
No murders either..
and btw..
There was no Colombine..
John Lennon is still alive.. Hidind..
So does Jim Morrison..
Jim P.. Is accurate..
:)))))
( see Borat movie for more Texas accuracies..)
Major Coincidence: George W Bush is from Texas..
Nite y’all from the innocent Las Vegas…
:)
Lee
Funny this:
“Here in Hawaii it is so difficult to get a gun permit. You have to be certified sane and healthy…”
Yes, I know how difficult it is to be ’sane’ and ‘healthy’ in this world! An extreme rarity, I must admit! :P
cheers,
bodo
…see, I’ve been through the desert with a Horse with no name…
In the desert you forget your name…
Neil Young
…why don’t we made any cameras (good or bad) in USA..???
coZ we are busy building F-16…and weapons of DEFENSE..
( mass destruction is something that Saddham used to do.. Not us…)
Sometimes we kill our own people..
And that we call.. “friendly fire”…
Remember when DICK Cheney shot his best friend while hunting..???
That was “friendly fire”…
Good night America..
Good morning world…
for work on gun culture in america:
http://zednelson.com/index_pics.html
http://www.steal-life.com/features/71zednelson.html
Mark,
Firstly, what a sad event. What I get from this essay is a personal, intelligent and quiet approach. I am pulled into this essay deeply at image no.6, the photograph of the crowd and the two gurneys in the street. This is an extremely powerful image. The succinct edit really gives the work good measure, and while I am sure that you have quite a few more good images that you could have included, the ‘less is more’ approach to this presentation adds to its power.
The problem with the mass media (well, one of…), in general, I find from tragic events such as this one, is that attention is often focused on the person responsible for the crime. Journo’s are keen to get as much information as they possibly can about the perpertrator, rather than the victims. Often we overlook the innocent people, although not always, and focus on every possible background detail of the person responsible. There is validity to this, I guess, but it is sad that so often, the victims become nameless to the rest of the world. They are more often than not, forgotten ( obviouslynot by their families and friends though).
I like the inclusion of the street photograph (no.10) and in fact, I like the series of three images (10, 11, 12) that follows. I think this photograph, and the other “breather” photos give the viewer a chance to rest, breathe, between the more emotionally involving images. And i think giving the audience that little roller coaster up and then down actually strengthens the work as a whole.
I could go on, but I don’t like to read longer comments to much, so a bit of practice what I preach… But Mark, good job on presentation, dedication to the story and sensible approach to the subject.
Regards.
P.s. Panos, I find your comments a bit ranting in regards to this essay, and somewhat unproductive. I’m all for comment and proactive critical appraisal on featured work, but the above comments appear to me somewhat unnecessary.
Sean/David:
Your comments bring up topics I thought about a great deal indeed… Especially when talking to family members about how they wanted their loved ones remembered.
Thank you for writing.
Hey Mark
Hey it took your really fantastic essay to bring me out of hiding!
True!
I have been out and about a bit but if you have a look at BB on the last page of my gallery on my site you’ll get an idea of what I have been up to…
And just before I go into hiding again, just wanted to say keep up the good work! Really your work made me feel something which motivates me to keep going with mine!
Cheers mate!
Very well done, really touching.
Kind thoughts go out to the families.