Some Thoughts on Recent Events

I had planned on writing more about Photolucida (and I will at a later date), but the deaths of Tim Hetherington & Chris Hondros in Libya threw me for a loop. Words are inadequate to express my feelings. There is no perspective to be had in their deaths. It is final and it is brutal. If you didn’t know them, know their work.

And now the death of Osama Bin Laden takes our attention in another direction. Should the president release a death photo or not? For me it doesn’t matter. I am not a fan of death porn. As a photo editor for many years I saw a lot of terrible images and I do not need to see more.

It seems to me that those who call for the photos to be released are people who won’t believe things even when faced with the truth. How else can you explain the Birthers? When Obama finally released his birth certificate they claimed it had been Photoshopped. What’s the say that wouldn’t be the case with the death photo of Bin Laden?

I am not someone who simply believes everything the government tells me, far from it. But I am willing to accept this. I don’t need more. And to be honest, in this day and age I’m not convinced the photo won’t show up somewhere at some time in the future. The fact that the mission to get Bin Laden stayed completely unknown until announced is amazing. Nothing seems to stay hidden for long anymore.

Since the deaths of Tim & Chris I have been thinking a lot about those who go to conflict zones to make their careers. I will be writing about that soon, as I worry that the danger and lack of protection is worse than ever, and I question the wisdom of it. But that will wait for a later date as well. So many things have pushed me away from my initial intent on writing here at Stellazine that I am re-evaluating what I write about and how frequently I do it.