Adem Altan, a photographer for 40 years, 15 of whom work for AFP, snapped photos in front of a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras, the epicenter of the devastating earthquake that rocked Turkey and Syria, when suddenly he saw the man sitting in the rubble.
As no rescue teams had yet reached the Turkish city on Tuesday, a day after the earthquake that has already claimed around 20,000 lives in both countries, the residents themselves were trying to clear the ruins to save their loved ones.
The man in the orange jacket stood motionless in the tumult, insensitive to rain and cold.
Adem Altan then realized that the man, 60 meters away from him, had a hand in his.
the pain of death
He started shooting with his camera to immortalize the scene: the father holding his dead daughter’s hand without letting goamidst rubble and devastation.
While Adem took the photos, the man followed him with his gaze.
“Photograph my daughter”he muttered in Adem’s direction, his voice breaking and trembling.
For a moment, she let go of her daughter’s hand to show the photographer where her 15-year-old daughter lay.
Soon, he took her hand again.
“I was very emotional at that moment. I had tears. I said to myself: “My God, this is excruciating pain”“, says the photographer.
Adem then asked for his name and that of his daughter.
“My Daughter, Irmak”Mesut Hancer answered.
Impact
“He spoke with difficulty, in a very low voice. It was difficult to ask him more questionswhile the people around asked people to be silent so they could hear the voices of possible survivors trapped under the rubble,” said the photographer.
At that moment, he immediately thought that the image summed up the pain of the earthquake victims. I had no idea what impact it would have.
Covered on the front page of the world press, The photo went viral on social media.shared hundreds of thousands of times by shocked netizens.
Adem Altan has received thousands of messages from all over the world with expressions of solidarity and emotion for the pain of this dejected father.
“I think it is a photo that will remain in the memory. A lot of people have told me they will never forget this picture,” she says. Neither did he.
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.