A FP photographer Adem Altan was taking pictures of a collapsed apartment building in Kahramanmaras the day afterwhen he noticed a man sitti...
As he took the photo “I had tears in my eyes,” said Adem, an image that would go around the world and become a symbol of the appalling suffering visited on the people of southern Turkey, but also of their quiet dignity.
Mesut Hancer’s refusal to let his daughter go touched millions, crouching amid the shattered remains of his home. “I was so sad,” said Adem. “I kept saying to myself, ‘My God, what immense pain.’” Adem asked the father his name and that of his child. “My daughter, Irmak,” he said.
“He was speaking with difficulty. It was hard to ask him any more because his neighbours were demanding silence so they could hear the voices of survivors under the rubble,” Adem added.
As a news photographer for 40 years – 15 of those with AFP – Adem knew he had caught something of the terrible tragedy. Even so, its global impact surprised him, the image appearing on the front pages of The Guardian, the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times and shared thousands upon thousands of times on social media. Altan has received thousands of messages from people worldwide wanting to offer support.
“Many told me they will never forget this image,” he said.
No comments
Thanks