“The most explicit image ... is one of the rare news photographs with the potential to grab the public’s attention in ways that reporting never could, and perhaps inspire readers to think about what is happening in Syria and why. You might not know much about Syria, and viewing this photograph ... isn’t going to
make you understand what’s happening there. But it
might force you to confront the fact that you haven’t been paying attention—make you justify your indifference, and in doing so raise your awareness by at least a little bit ... The image is resonant and journalistically relevant because it illustrates the human toll of an ongoing humanitarian crisis that persists, in part, because the world pays it very little attention.” —
Justin Peters
“It’s horrific, graphic, and gruesome—and it’s important that everyone looks at it. Reading about gun violence isn’t enough. A shooting is a visual tragedy. There’s a muzzle flash, bullets, a wound, blood, and bodies. When we see an upsetting image, our brain draws on tens of thousands of years of evolutionary training for a proper response.” —
Sam Biddle
