Paul Hansen is a Swedish photographer born on April 25th 1964. Hansen who was born in Gothenburg works for newspaper ‘Dagens Nyheter’ based in the country’s capital of Stockholm as a photographer.
In 2012 Hansen’s photography led him to Gaza city, Palestine where he uncovered a funeral about to occur, on the way to the funeral were two uncles carrying the dead in their hands, behind them hundreds of mourners are seen following them to the funeral in the local mosque.
It was this photograph that won the world press photo of the year in 2013, the photo was later named by Paul Hansen as the “Gaza burial”.
What makes this image so powerful in my opinion is the facts that it exposed to so many around the world. That it is not only soldiers that are being killed in this conflict but innocent families are being persecuted by a corrupt and blood-thirsty Israeli government. The photo itself, Paul Hanson recently spoke to MEMO and stated “the main purpose of these pictures is the message is conveys.”
Hanson is correct to state that what has made this photo so popular is the message it sends, however the colour used in the photo is of particular brilliance. Hansen somehow manages to find light in a darkened tiny alley-way, and allows us to see the tragedy struck-faces of locals. Some even went onto to condemn the image as fake, these reports turned out to be false after an investigation was carried out and so we can now remember the image for its brilliance in revealing a message in a desperate time for many rather than rubbished lies created from jealous individuals.
kieronmunro 