Intimate Pain
Renee Byer recently won a Pulitzer Prize for this incredibly heart-wrenching series of photographs for the Sacramento Bee.
The images remarkably steer clear of saccharin sentimentalism and reveal the intimate pain of a mother who must confront every parent's nightmare. There is a delicacy to the way Byer has handled the events and their representation. It is honest and not intrusive but yet brutally there-in-the-moment. Byer's work reminds me of Philip Jones Griffiths but without sweeping political undertones. The story is simply and powerfully life affirming.
The images remarkably steer clear of saccharin sentimentalism and reveal the intimate pain of a mother who must confront every parent's nightmare. There is a delicacy to the way Byer has handled the events and their representation. It is honest and not intrusive but yet brutally there-in-the-moment. Byer's work reminds me of Philip Jones Griffiths but without sweeping political undertones. The story is simply and powerfully life affirming.