Senegalese gay anti-AIDS activist Serigne, 27, who asked to be identified only by his first name, is pictured concealing his identity and crying on a street in Dakar, Senegal Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2005. The fear of violence and rejection is scaring gays away from treatment and making them a high-risk group in a country that has been spared the ravages of AIDS seen elsewhere in Africa. Serigne, who isn't infected, was attacked in the street after a newspaper named him as an anti-AIDS activist. (Cassandra Vinograd / The Associate Press)
The goal of an effective photograph is to bring the viewer in and make them want to learn more about a subject and his or her situation. This image does that and more. By making an emotional image and authoring a telling caption, Ms. Vinograd has succeeded in bringing us into Serigne’s world and making us care. In her composition, Cassandra has included just enough background elements to give this photo a good sense of place. The beat-up taxi, the dirt road and the discarded belongings are supporting characters to the drama. To nit-pick a little, I wish that Cassandra would have gotten down a little lower and eliminated the bright patch of ground on the right.
The only other thing that troubles me about this photograph is the part of the caption that says, “…is pictured concealing his identity”. I wish that the caption was a bit clearer on whether this was a portrait situation or a defining moment that just happened during documentary coverage? Either way is ethically sound, as long as a controlled situation isn’t pawned off as a found moment. Overall, this is a great job by Cassandra in taking a huge issue and distilling it down to one person and one moment.
