This week, my class and I visited the Newseum. I visited many exhibits such as an FBI exhibit, a news room, a Berlin Wall exhibit, and a 9/11 exhibit. We learned about many important events, and also saw some Pulitzer Prize winning photographs. These two photographs were the ones that stood out to me the most, telling a story as I looked at them.
This picture is called “World Trade Center Attack” and was taken in 2001, by Steve Ludlum. The photograph shows a picture of the twin towers, as it it being attacked, in New York City. The pieces of the towers falling apart, the smoke, and the fire really makes it feel like you are here, during this tragic event. I believe the explosion in mid-action summarizes 9/11, and captures the horrible moment. This picture is reminder of this awful day, and makes me realize how depressing this event was.
This photograph also stood out to me, pointing out to me that this natural disaster actually happened, and affected people greatly. This picture is called “Hurricane Katrina” and was taken in 2005, by Smiley N. Pool, in New Orleans. In this photo, I see people on the roof of a building, after the building has been flooded. Hurricane Katrina caused over 1800 people to die, and this picture explains how in need people were. This photograph made me realize how lucky I am to be alive, and not being injured by natural disasters. There were not enough resources to rescue all of these suffering people, which is very sad.
If I were these photographers, I would be struggling to not help these people during the events. The struggles of being a photojournalist are probably realizing that the picture you are taking are real life, and it is very depressing that these events are happening, right before your eyes.
My favorite exhibit, in the Newseum, was the Berlin Wall exhibit. The Berlin Wall was a wall to separate the East and West of Berlin, Germany. As you can see in the picture above, the side towards the back of the picture is the East side. The East side consisted of concentration camps and no freedom. The big tower you see was called the Death Tower, where people were shot, and killed. The side with all of the graffiti on it was the West side, where they had more freedom to do what they love. The art was a way of expressing themselves, and I found it very interesting.
My visit at the Newseum was fun, and I recommend going there. I learned more about some important historical events, and I am happy I did.