Friday, December 7, 2007

Pictures of the Week: Dec. 1-7

In assembling this week's Pictures of the Week gallery, I was originally planning to comment on the photograph of the children playing in the mustard field in India.



I was struck by many elements that it contained. I liked the way that the image was composed, and I enjoyed the way that you can actually see the path that this young group of playmates takes across the field. I like the contrast of the orange fabric against the yellow flowers, but mostly, I like the innocence that this image captures, the way this image conveys the universality of childhood. It reminds me that the pursuits of children are very similar the world over.
 
However, late in the afternoon, a very different kind of image moved across the wires. It's an image taken from a video surveillance camera inside the Westroads Mall in Omaha, Neb., that shows the gunman with his rifle raised inside the Von Maur department store.



It is a chilling image that is heightened by the poor quality inherent in grabs from video surveillance cameras. The image is shocking and sad. A teenage gunman, not too far removed from childhood, whose actions are so very far from the innocence of a child.
 
Please take a look at all of this week's compelling images in our Pictures of the Week gallery.
 
-Lee Van Grack

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