Another context-free zone
In a rare move, the AP has sent a combination photograph across the wires comparing a before and after scene. (You'd think that someone over there reads these pages!) Unfortunately, if we go by the information in the photograph alone, we'd be missing quite a bit of information. The caption merely reads, a building is seen standing, top..., and, bottom, is seen destroyed... after 34-days of the Israeli offensive. While information like this is useful, and is certainly more detailed than the wires have tended to be in the past, it would be more helpful if the photographer chose to include ancillary information about why buildings like that are targeted.
In another photograph, we see a man who is salvaging belongings from his bombed-out apartment. What makes this particular photograph so curious, is that he's doing so on a ledge that's at least 15 stories high! Is there any logical reason to do this, other than for the photographer to have a dramatic backdrop of rubble to his shot? We're not provided any contextual information to go with this photograph, other than the fact that his apartment was damaged during the "recent conflict between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbullah."
In this photo combo, a building is seen standing, top, in the Hezbollah stronghold of the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, July 17, 2006, and, bottom, is seen destroyed Friday, Aug. 18, 2006, after 34-days of the Israeli offensive. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
A man salvages belongings from an apartment, which was damaged during the recent conflict between Israel and Lebanon's Hizbollah, in Beirut's southern suburbs August 21, 2006. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON)
