The Grieving Woman at the Ethiopian Airlines Crash Site, and the Western Gaze – Reading The Pictures

This astonishing photo from the Ethiopian Airlines crash site hits me two ways. The expression of grief is so intense, I cannot forget it, all the way down to the tension in this woman’s cheek, jaw, and neck, and the dirt that misses her face and seems permanently suspended. At the same, however, I feel challenged looking at the photo as a westerner.