Ángel Franco had been staking out a medical facility in Orlando, Fla., photographing grieving families who had just identified relatives slain in one of the nation’s largest mass shootings, when he found himself thinking: “What am I doing here?”
Mr. Franco, a New York Times staff photographer, was among the many journalists from around the nation who rushed to Orlando on June 12 after a gunman went on a rampage at Pulse, a gay nightclub. The gunman chose Latin Night for his slaughter, so the majority of the 49 victims were young, gay Hispanic men — nearly two dozen from Puerto Rico alone.
The challenge to Mr. Franco was clear. “I tried to make photos that were embracing an emotional moment, even though I felt I was trespassing,” said Mr. Franco, who himself is Puerto Rican.
A collection of images about the Pulse massacre will be exhibited this month at Snap!, a downtown Orlando gallery. The show, called “Unison,” highlights not the violence, but the global response of love, featuring the work of Spencer Platt and Joe Raedle of Getty Images; Adrees Latif and Carlo Allegri of Reuters; David Goldman of The Associated Press; Red Huber from The Orlando Sentinel; and Hilary Swift, Sam Hodgson and Mr. Franco for The Times.
Timed right before Orlando Pride Week, the show opens Wednesday, after a private viewing for Pulse employees, survivors and victims’ families.
“I think what people are going to see is the respect that the photographers have for people, and the love they have for people and the passion for hugging people with their images,” Mr. Franco said.
The idea for the exhibit came from Ryan Julison, an Orlando-based public relations executive who had volunteered to help the victims’ families in the days after the tragedy. He did not want to revisit grim depictions of bleeding clubgoers running for their lives, but wanted to highlight the support and outpouring of love Orlando witnessed.
“I thought, ‘They must be getting incredible, powerful, moving images.’ What if we compile those in large format in one place as a way to pay tribute, to honor those whose lives were lost?” Mr. Julison said of the exhibit, which Jill and Robert Palmer sponsored. “I wanted people to see the power, emotion and community spirit that developed, not just here, but around the world.”
Photos came from candlelight vigils held from Berlin to Beijing and from Brazil to Puerto Rico. Some of the photographs will be almost three feet by five feet.
“This is very unusual for news imagery to be developed at this size,” said Patrick Kahn, the gallery owner who curated the exhibit. “Once you see the results, it’s very impressive and I would even say immersive. We are treating this as a sanctuary.”
Source: http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/10/04/love-and-loss-responding-to-the-orlando-massacre/?mabReward=A5&moduleDetail=recommendations-0&action=click&contentCollection=U.S.®ion=Footer&module=WhatsNext&version=WhatsNext&contentID=WhatsNext&src=recg&pgtype=article&_r=1