New York Times photo of starving child ‘example of the raw, unfiltered definition of news photography’

The New York Times
In the Times’ “Story Behind the Story” email newsletter for subscribers, photojournalist Tyler Hicks describes his photo of an emaciated child in Mogadishu, which the Times ran on its front page one day in August to accompany a story about the famine in southern Somalia. “I could see that this image, however disturbing to view, would give proof of how desperate the situation had become,” Hicks writes. The public reaction was positive, not only among readers, but among other media and aid groups, he says. “This is an example of the raw, unfiltered definition of news photography. … Sometimes you land on a story, a cause, something that has meaning to you, and the resulting photographs have an impact. They are seen and spur reaction. In a digital age, that’s when you’re reminded of the impact that a still, motionless photograph can have.” || Related: Keller says decision to run photo of starving Somali child on NYT’s A1 ‘a no-brainer’