Squatter Family, Baghdad, Iraq
Sean Hemmerle
Squatter Family, Baghdad, Iraq, 2003
Gelatin Silver Print
40 x 40 cm
A family portrayed on the streets of Baghdad, manifested in the subtle gray shades of a gelatin silver print: A mother with her four children, three sons and a daughter. While the little girl on her mother’s arm and the youngest boy riding piggyback on his brother’s shoulders seem lost in thought, the two standing boys look directly into the camera, the lens being at eye level with them, fixating the viewer with curiosity and a hint of cheekiness. However, the undisputedly most mesmerizing momentum in this beautiful photograph by Sean Hemmerle is the mothers attitude: Her entire disposition, her facial expression, her body language radiate pride, confidence, beauty, grace, willpower and strength.
