PBW: Aftermath.

In the aftermath of the tornado that hit my home town last Friday, I ventured out this past Sunday to get some shots for this week's Photo Blog Wednesday. I'm morally obliged to inform you that these images, especially one in particular, are not for the faint-of-heart. I shot two locations: the parking lot of a bank, and a field and side street near my old middle school. As of today, clean-up efforts are still going on. Some people lost power. One person had a car crushed by a falling tree. Another family had their house sheared in half. The newspapers said there were no casualties, but I know otherwise. In the parking lot of that bank, where the jagged end of a fallen tree lorded over the battlefield like a triumphant dragon, I faced a horror that I didn't realize until too late. As I made my way snapping pictures, I noticed several grey mounds dashed against the pavement, barely recognizable until I came across some with intact beaks. I truly WAS in the middle of a battlefield where nature had defeated about 40 or 50 occupants of that fallen tree. I was torn about taking a photo, and about posting it. I think journalism NEEDS to show the truth at all times, both good and bad. I do know that I'd never want to photograph the aftermath of an actual war, nor find myself faced with the sight I saw in that parking lot ever again. As I stepped carefully and made my way back to my car, a flock of birds erupted from the branches of a nearby tree that had stood firm.

I could take some solace in watching the survivors soar.












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