The photo here reveals how cruel wars are. Inside the photo is a six-year-old little girl called Samar Hassan. This photo was captured in January 2005, when little Samar lost both of her parents.
Back to 2005, when the Iraq War was undertaken in full swing. In the northern Iraqi city of Tel Afar, which was a town that had seen frequent clashes between US forces and insurgents. And it was just after dusk, as curfew was coming into force, a non-stop car ignored the warning shots and rushed past the patrol. Then the soldiers feared it might be a suicide bomber and opened fire on the car, killing both parents and injured one of their five children. Chris Hondros, an American Pulitzer-Prize nominated war photographer, approached the scene and captured the above picture in which the 5-year-old Samar Hassan splattered in her parents’ blood.
Indeed, the photo revealed not only the cruelty of wars and the tragedies suffered by so many civilians in Iraq and other war-stricken countries, but also tough decisions the soldiers faced under duress. Beyond doubt, the most haunting element of this picture was the young girl, Samar Hassan, crying and covered with her parents’ blood. The blood on the pavement, her hand and face, together with the high angle of the camera, which makes the audience feel like she is asking for your helping hand, all of these tend to make this photo an instantly disturbing image.
The power of a great photo can be unlimited. Just like this one, it was probably not captured with comprehensive consideration. But it successfully moved the world as it unearthed the truth and showed it to the people. Besides the photographic truth it possesses, this photo also contains its connotative meaning, which is the condemnation about war and the wishes for a peaceful world.
All in all, this is a meaningful photo which impacts many of us. And I hope that there can be no more war any more.