Survivors
In today’s blog I decided to share one of my photojournalism images and the story behind the photograph.
The photograph, taken from a moving vehicle, was taken in Hancock County, MS, ground zero for Hurricane Katrina.
This family had lost their home when Hurricane Katrina blew through the Mississippi Coast.
I had just witnessed the destruction of my own home and was returning 100 miles to the north to the home we had sheltered in during the storm. When I saw this family camping out in a local shopping center parking lot I fully understood the meaning of the phrase, “Life is a matter of perspective”.
I may have lost my home the same as this family, but I wasn’t having to camp out in a parking lot.
I wasn’t having to support and care for children in the midst of a natural disaster.
I was going to be able to sleep in a clean, dry bed in a house.
I was going to that house in an air conditioned truck, sheltered from the oppressive heat and humidity.
This image changed my outlook on life more than anything else I witnessed during or after Hurricane Katrina.
What experience in your life permanently changed your outlook on life and was it a traumatic or joyful experience?
