Pulitzer Photo: Fatal Fire

 

This photograph is certainly among the most visually striking Pulitzer winners displayed at the Newseum. It is at once shocking, engaging, and horrifying, compelling the viewer to stare in spite of the desire to look away. Stanley J Forman took this shot in 1976 while on scene at a fire in Boston. The woman and girl in the photo were climbing down a fire escape when it suddenly collapsed. Forman began to shoot, turning away only seconds before they hit the ground. Though clearly a matter of happenstance- the photographer had no time to change lenses or adjust aperture- this frame draws on point of view and composition to tell a tragic story.  

Forman’s point of view in this shot suggests precisely how drastic the fall is. He has positioned himself under and in front of the scene. It is clear that the camera is angled up, letting the viewer know that subjects have a great distance to fall.  The angle also included enough of the building to give the viewer perspective; the cut-off window suggests a tall building and a long fall. Had the frame been captured even second later, the two individuals may have been too close to ground to create a startling picture. In this case, the photographer’s point of view accounts for the jarring effect of the photo.

Composition is also a key component of this frame. As evidence of a remarkably gifted eye, Forman has managed to enact the rule of thirds both horizontally and vertically, even in a high-pressure situation. Horizontally, the rule of thirds draws the eye to the adult woman in the frame. Above her, the top third drawn contains the falling child and below a window creates the bottom third. As a result, the eye is immediately drawn to the center third, and to the woman who appears to be the most in focus of all the shot’s elements. Vertically, both the woman and the child make up the center third, framed on one side by the collapsed fire escape and on the other by a line of building bricks. The lines in the outer thirds, as well as the windows directly behind the two people, give the illusion of a straight line that allows the viewer to imagine the subjects’ movement and trace the path of their fall. These composed lines ensure that only the two people are emphasized, making their story central to the shot.

This image was immediately attractive solely because the subject matter was both upsetting and provoked curiosity. It seemed essential to read the story that explained it, and study it further, even though the image is not a desirable one to have etched in the brain. The photo is certainly powerful, drawing the viewer to gasp one second and blink back tears the next; even several who hardly glanced at most of the gallery paused to study this frame. It isn’t a shot the viewer is drawn to “like;” it’s far too tragic for that. But it is one the viewer is drawn to understand. As many great photos do, it makes the intangible tangible. The ephemeral nature of life is shockingly real in this photo. The woman died just moments after Forman clicked the shutter. The little girl, however, survived.