The Photo I Didn't Take

Saw the bloody aftermath of an accident today.  An injured young woman winced and sobbed as she lay on her side on the pavement clutching her head.  Wheeled and foot traffic closed in around her.  It would have made a striking picture and I wore my ready camera at my chest for such moments of intensity on the street.  But there's a fine line between documenting life and being an opportunist for a juicy photo.  Snapping away in the vein of a photojournalist and invading a painful moment is a deposit to be repaid in future healing when future generations that may not be as lost may look and see what generations before went through in times of war and grief and triumph.  Taking a picture of someone in a automobile accident can't be justified in the same way.  Thus my photo today is the photo I didn't take.

The Photo I Didn't Take
Phnom Penh – March 2013