I've been a photojournalist for long enough to know that you can't take things personal in the business of News gathering. For the most part I don't, I have a GOD that guides my path, a wife that I love with all of my heart and a job that I love. Beyond that I try, really hard to leave my job at work. In some ways I've become jaded to the different scenes that I see with my eyes and those that I see through the viewfinder of my camera.
Jaded in the fact that most things don't bother me anymore while I'm in the moment of doing my job. I ask for prayer over all situations while I'm going to and coming from a story. In short, my faith doesn't cloud my judgment, my faith gives me the grace and peace to get through all of the things that I see.
This past week I was privy to a story, not one that I covered directly, that got to me. It was of a man who had been murdered, decapitated and several of his limbs and hands/feet cut off. The parts of his body were placed not too far from where his torso was found.
I hate to say it but this normally wouldn't affect me but it did. On Saturday the authorities apprehended a suspect and arrested him on the brutal and heinous acts that were perpetrated on the the victim.
The victim as well as the alledged suspect are both homeless men. I overheard some people state, in short, "Both of them are homeless, why do we care?".
Well, that hurt and I took it personal. Not as a photojournalist but as a human being and a man of faith. It has stayed on my mind, the murder, both men and even the statement about them both being homeless. They were both human beings neither deserving what has happened to them, good people/bad choices scenario. I'm sure I'll get over it as that it is what I am "trained" to do. But my prayers are with both the victim's family and the accused suspect.
In the end, what I see through my camera's viewfinder is in black and white but more times than not real life isn't the same way. Real life sometimes needs some color to get the whole picture.
--Aaron
