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Pictures don’t always tell the story

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They say every picture tells a story, and in our line of work we take a lot of them. I took dozens at the two staging areas for the emergency response to the July 5 fatal airplane crash in Sechelt.

We used just one of those dozens online and as part of our print coverage on page 2 of the July 13 issue. It records the arrival at the scene of the coroner, and the story that picture told was one I’ve seen a lot over my career – the transition from fearing someone hasn’t survived a potentially tragic circumstance, but hoping they did, to having your fears confirmed.

The arrival of someone with the word “CORONER” across their back in yellow capitals is a powerful image and an obvious subject for a news photographer. Most reporters and photojournalists I know have taken a variation of that picture.

So, why am I writing about this one?  I can’t let go of a comment I saw on social media after the story went online: “Why are some of them smiling?”

I’d like to try to answer that question because I worry others are thinking the same thing, with the unspoken implication that a smile, even a brief one, was somehow inappropriate or unprofessional in such a grave situation.

I took the photo from a discreet distance so I have no idea what was being said and my camera can catch a split-second movement of the mouth that could look like a smile when it wasn’t, but let’s assume the camera didn’t lie.

I’ve had a lot of experience covering first responders in situations where they’re doing their best work under incredibly difficult circumstances, and there’s typically a moment when the dynamic shifts away from the urgency of needing to move quickly to save a life or douse the flames.

That’s sometimes the moment people catch their breath, relax a little and gather their thoughts before getting on with the job. 

Maybe my photo captured some of that moment.

I’m not an expert in what first responders know as “critical incident stress,” but I do know there’s an equivalent for journalists and one of the ways reporters try to minimize it is to make our interactions with our colleagues an oasis of normality, including greeting each other with a smile.

For many of the first responders at the scene of that plane crash, it was their second fatal accident call in a two-week period, and for Sunshine Coast Search and Rescue it was their second big call-out in as many days.

With all that in mind, this is what I see in that picture: I see a group of people doing a dangerous and demanding job who haven’t let the task at hand rob them of the ability to offer a greeting and a smile to each other – despite the circumstances.

It’s just one of the many confirmations of the high level of professionalism among the Sunshine Coast’s full-time and volunteer first responders that I see every week.

So, if you have chance, take another look at that picture and see if you can see what I see.