The photos not taken

Journalism is my training, more specifically, photojournalism is my training.

I did the training more to prove to myself that I could do it than to actually get a job in my field of study. I did do a bit of freelance work for a newspaper not long out of school but it was never my job. These days I take photos for myself for the most part unless I’m helping someone out with photographs for a specific project/job.

That said, today I saw the perfect opportunity to put my skills to use and I chose not to.

A pedestrian was killed on the street out in front of my work. It would appear that they were struck and killed by a vehicle.

I don’t know if it was a male or female that was stuck.

I don’t know if they were young or old.

I never saw it happen.

I never heard it happen.

I never heard the sirens of emergency vehicles on route to the scene.

I looked out the front window of work and saw a crowd of Police Officers, EMTs and Fire Medics milling around. There was a firetruck and ambulance blocking the intersection along with many police vehicles and a crowd of onlookers as CPR was being preformed on an inert individual on the ground.

I knew CPR was being administered but I couldn’t actually see the person receiving it. Between the folks doing the work and all their gear, all that was visible to me was a foot in a running shoe.

I saw CPR being administered.

I saw an EMT holding an IV bag.

I saw the ambulance back a bit closer for easier loading.

I saw CPR being administered again.

I saw the look on the faces of the EMTs when they stopped CPR about half an hour after they started.

I saw them un-hook the IV bag and place it in a bucket.

I saw them place a yellow blanket over the body.

I watched them clean up the scene and put all their garbage in the same bucket as the IV.

I watched the accident reconstruction team taking photos and measurements for the start of their investigation.

As I watched the scene unfold, I could see the photos that I would of taken if it were my job to record the scene.

I could see the low angle shot of the first responder’s helmet on the road with them working in the background doing CPR.

I could see the shot of the running shoe showing clearly amongst the tangle of bodies and gear.

I could these and so much more.

And yet, I chose to not take any photos of any of it.

If it was my job I would of recorded what was happening because it would be required of me.

The images will stay in my brain long enough without me having to record them for posterity.

Even though none of my co-workers or myself saw the actual event happen, the powers that be decided to close the store and send us home early today.

As I left I wanted to thank the first responders for all their efforts but I didn’t want to intrude in their space.