A number of the photographs that I’ve come across this week look as if they were shot on the scene of a post-apocalyptic movie – but the devastating wildfires across the globe, sparking eerie, smoke-filled scenes, are not the stuff of Hollywood imagination.
Photojournalists this week have managed to capture haunting photographs following a devastating number of wildfires across the globe, from Canada to France.
Abnormally high temperatures have sparked a series of wildfires in several regions, including Canada, France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. The fires have not only devastated communities directly impacted by the flames, but have also created widespread impact as smoke creates dangerous air quality across many regions.
Smoke is difficult to photograph – yet a number of photojournalists have captured eerie images of the fire’s devastation. I’m a photographer and a journalist, and I think these are some of the best news photos this week, from wildfire devastation to earthquake aftermath.
A haunting contrast between smoke and an iconic landmark
This photograph by Getty Images’ David Ramos is a haunting representation of some of the biggest headlines from the US this week: heat, smoke and immigration.
Ramos took this photograph from the Staten Island Ferry, capturing the Statue of Liberty – an iconic symbol of immigration – through the window, shrouded in yellow haze. A single silhouetted person surrounded by empty seats adds to the eerie feel of the image.
Ramos chose to focus on the Statue of Liberty rather than the person in silhouette, drawing more attention to the yellow, hazy skies.
An eerie image that captures both the heat and the smoke
Heat is something invisible that cannot be directly photographed, but I can feel the heat coming off this image from the Toronto Star’s Steve Russell.
The photograph, taken on July 15, captures a person swimming to escape the heat with the Toronto skyline blanketed in yellow smoke in the background. The tight framing lends the photo a lonely, eerie feel, as if the man in the water is the only person around.
Pilots fight a wildfire in Italy
The dangerous conditions mean many of the photos coming from this week’s wildfires are of the smoke rather than the flames themselves. This image by Alberto Lo Bianco, however, shows some of the reality beyond the impact on air quality.
In the photograph, a firefighting airplane drops its water load on a line of flames in a wildfire on the slope of Mount Longa near Palermo, Sicily, Italy.
A haunting photograph of the aftermath of Venezuela’s earthquakes
This haunting photograph creates a devastating portrayal of another type of natural disaster – the twin earthquakes in Venezuela. While the earthquakes happened last month, this photograph from July 16 shows the continuing devastation as volunteers and family members search the rubble.
Photographer Federico Parra exposed the photograph for the light held high over two searchers kneeling in the rubble. The light draws attention to the devastation while leaving the rubble in darkness. Officials this week said the death toll has climbed past 4,800.
A statement written in chalk
The words “This is blood” are written on the pavement at the site of a fatal Immigration and Customs Enforcement shooting of a 26-year-old man from Colombia.
Photographer Ryan Murphy captured a photo of the words written as protests in the aftermath of the Maine shooting, which occurred days after a fatal shooting in Houston, Texas. Photographs are often tools to portray what words cannot, but the chalk words create a devastating photograph.
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