The best photos tell a story without words – and photojournalists are tasked with the job of taking photos that transcend language barriers. This week, some of the most striking news photographs that I’ve seen highlight the power of a good camera angle.
What’s included in the photo and what’s not are equally important to telling a story in a photograph. From natural disasters to the mourning of a country music legend, these are some of the best pieces of photojournalism that I’ve seen for the week of August 23.
A front door without a house
Scrolling through the top news images of the week, this photograph by Idriss Bigou-Gilles forced me to stop and take a deeper look. Shot amid the aftermath of the August 25 tornado in Pomas, southwestern France, the photograph shows a front door without a house.
The front door is often the first thing that homeowners see when returning home, the first thing that makes them feel at home. The photographer’s choice to frame this front door in the center of the image amid very obvious destruction tells a story and makes the devastation feel more human.
A Dolly Parton memorial
The stars on the edge of this frame hint where this photograph was taken – the Hollywood Walk of Fame – but it’s the name in the center that shows what this photograph is really about: Dolly Parton. The aerial photograph by Justin Sullivan shows just how many mourners left behind flowers and mementos in the wake of the country music legend and philanthropist’s death at age 80.
While an aerial shot of the star alone would have shown the impact of Parton’s passing, the two people passing a box that says “Dolly Parton’s Sweet Cornbread” over the pile of memorabilia is a perfectly timed moment that gives the view an innately human element.
An aerial view of a mudslide
The aerial view of this photograph tells a story of what happened without a caption: a flash flood and mudslide. Photographing the edge of the mud along with houses now colored the same hue creates a visually striking image while telling the story of the devastation of Nepal’s flash flooding on August 27. Looking closely, I can see sprinkles of colored debris on the edge of the mud.
According to the metadata, photographer Prabin Ranabhat took this photo with a DJI Air 3S drone.
An aerial shot of a wildfire’s aftermath
Aerial drone shots have a unique ability to illustrate just how widespread a natural disaster is. In this shot by Brook Mitchell, a lone farm sits amid patches of burnt land at Tintwistle Moor, the site of one of England’s largest wildfires in recent years.
Taken more than a month after the fire, the photo illustrates the long-term effects and highlights the drought that continues to make wildfire risks high.
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