ITALY EARTHQUAKE 2016
As part of a picture editing class assignment, student were asked to research the AP and Reuters wires to create a wide edit of images from coverage of the 2016 earthquake in Amatrice, Italy. After reading the article, I felt that the major themes the victims of this earthquake were dealing with were loss, sadness, and uncertainty. I chose photos that showed the destruction as well as people mourning. I found more than a thousand images available and narrowed that down to a 54-photos wide edit containing options I felt best told the story.
We were then asked to illustrate an accompanying story in print and to promote the story on the featured content page of the mobile app. I brought my edit to the eight images that felt most informative, emotional, and powerful.
We were asked to generate two different potential page options. One being the single image option and the other being a combination of two images to accompany the story. We also had to pick an image that would work well as an icon on their mobile app.
For the single image, I wanted to choose a picture that focused on what life was like post earthquake for the people who were enduring it. The photo I chose is beautifully composed in very dramatic lighting that reinforces the sadness that we are seeing in the person. The big wide frame perpetuates these ideas of isolation, sadness, and uncertainty.
For the combination spread, I decided to use a powerful image that that showed the destruction along with the sadness Italy is feeling. This pairing to me presented a sort of yin and yang, stylistically. The reinforcing image of the silhouettes at night helps paint more of a picture of what else is going on in the midst of the emotions; the rescuing through the rubble.
For the mobile icon picture I wanted to choose a photo of the survivors looking afraid or sad in a very tight shot, to echo the headline it would be paired with. I wanted the photo to be tightly shot since the icon is so small; a wide photo would get lost in that format and would be extremely hard to see.
All photos shown in this project are provided by the Associated Press for educational use only.