Cynthia Rojas
Carol Guzy, "War and Innocence"
(1999)
In 1999, former Washington Post photographer Carol Guzy spent time at a refugee camp in Albania during the Kusovo crisis and took this image, winning the Pulitzer Prize.
Akim Shala, 2, is passed through a barbed wire fence into the hands of his grandparents at a camp in Kukes, Albania. To me, this image celebrates the reunion of a family torn apart by war. The straight barbed wire lines represent the oppression that is holding these people back while the bent wire illustrates the hope that these people will overcome their situation. Taken from the photographer's eye level, this photo makes the viewer feel as if they are in the scene, looking at the child. The contrast between the child's bright blue outfit and the orange field isolates the toddler as the subject in focus while emphasizing the innocent and hopeful nature of the image.
