In the twenty-two seconds Han frantically struggled to escape no other witnesses attempted to help him. No one offered assistance. No one reach out their hand or coat for him to grab a hold and pull up. In this time of year when giving is better than receiving, no one bothered to give to Mr. Han. In fact, no one seemed to care at all. Except for one man, R. Umar Abbsi.
You see, Mr. Abbsi is a freelance photographer who works for the New York Post, and was in the subway that day waiting on the very train that took Mr. Han's life. According to Abbsi, out of the corner of his eye he saw Han fall onto the tracks and began racing toward him, all the while snapping pictures of the tragedy.
One of those pictures landed on the front page of the Post the follow day.
Post freelance photographer R. Umar Abbasi captured the dramatic moments before Ki Suk Han was struck by a downtown Q train
Now I ask you. Is this Photojournalism at it's best? Or just wrong?
Clearly Mr. Abbasi was not charging toward the victim to help him. He's a photographer. His job is to get the shot. That's how he puts food on his table.
We have become a society that wants to see the unthinkable. We like train wrecks, bearded ladies, and dudes with three eyeballs. We like horror flicks; seeing someone saw off their own leg, and deep down we want to lift the sheet up and peak at what's underneath. So is he just giving us what we want? Is he just doing his job?
Was this guy merly running towards an accident to help and happened to take pictures, or was he taking pictures as he ran toward the accident in hopes of getting the ultimate shot?
