The Power of a Picture

Today, i was reading through Everything Is an Argument and how an image can say more than words and can pull the emotional stings of our hearts. The one image that I kept seeing in my mind was an extreme juxtapose of a mound of bodies and skulls scattered through a lit church. I had seen this image when a good family friend of mine, Clemantine Wamariya, presented at my grade school about her experience and story of her escape from the Rwanda Genocide. The Rwanda Genocide was a massacre of 6 million people because the Hutus (an ethnic group of Rwanda) wanted to get rid of every Tutsi (another ethnic group of Rwanda). The genocide was gruesome in that people used guerrilla war tactics and rape. Clemantine was one of the few who escaped the genocide and came to America after years of waiting in refugee camps. Her story was amazing, but what made it impactful was the powerful images she showed. The image that has been forever etched in my mind is the juxtapose of a cross in the middle of hundreds of corpses. The cross has always been to me a symbol of hope and life, while the corpses and skulls scattered on the ground symbolize death and horror. Also, this picture was in the middle of a church. A church to me represents a refuge and a place of safety, but during the Genocide it was a slaughterhouse. The image had a strong emotional appeal and only made Clemantine's story more compelling. This image gives you a sense of the destruction and horror that went on during this awful genocide. I will never forget this image, and I will never forget the compelling story of perseverance by Clemantine Wamariya.

Now, what images have been so powerful that you never forget them? If you have any, comment on this post and put your picture in the comment and explain why it is so powerful.