Explore the emotions felt in a particular situation

A photographer’s dilemma

Consider the consequences of actions (or inaction)

Identify how an individual may have conflicting emotions

Values focus – resilience, courage.

• Imagine that you are a photojournalist. • You are reporting on severe flooding in Athens, the city in which

you live. You set out to take images of dramatic scenes of flooded streets and overturned cars.

• You’re experienced and a professional, used to working in crisis situations. You know you’re going to be able to get some ‘easy’ shots.

• However, a street away from your home, you come across a scene that takes you by surprise.

What would you do?

• The woman is screaming for help.

• You, the photographer, are in a park, across a road from the woman. Water is flowing waist-deep between you. You cannot think of a way of getting to her.

Discussion Points • Given this, what would you do? • Would you use your cameras to take a picture of the

drama? • If you did, how would you feel about it? • How do you think the woman, screaming for help,

might feel about being photographed?

• John Kolesidis, the actual photographer during the Athens floods, told the British Red Cross about it:

• "I saw the woman, she was screaming for help. At the same time a resident came from the other side of the road and tried to help her. I couldn't reach her, I screamed at her not to panic. And tried to encourage her. 'Please wait, I am coming for you, I'm coming to help.'

• "At this time I had a bad feeling. I have a fight between my professional identity as a photojournalist and my humanity identity. I couldn't help her, so I decide to shoot some pictures. I took them when the woman and the resident were not looking at me. I was feeling bad about it."

• The woman has noticed you taking photographs.

• A man on the bonnet of a car tries to rescue a woman clinging to her car from flood waters

- Which "identity" do you think would be most important for you personally – your professional one or your humanity.

Remember that at this point you do not know whether the woman will survive. She may be washed away by the river. How does that affect what you feel?

"The woman’s leg was trapped among the branches that were being washed away under her car door. I called out to her to hang on, and urged the men who had got to her to try and encourage her.

I took some more pictures, and as I was at a loss as to what to do next, I rushed back to the park to try to find some rope. All I could get my hands on was a long, entangled watering hose.

By that time, the water had come down a bit, so a man was beside her trying to untangle her leg. We managed to remove the branches from the car door and her legs."

When the woman's legs were free, one of the men lifted her up. Others, including John Kolesidis, helped carry her to shelter in a nearby building where they could wait for an ambulance. The woman had passed out. After a few minutes a police car came and they put her in the police car. And they waited for the ambulance.

• This is the image of the woman being rescued.

• As a VMG, write a caption for this image, thinking about the skills and qualities of the people involved (the Learning Model might help you).

• Send your captions to Miss Addy