Ok, I skipped a week. Forgive me. On with the show. Nothing brings out the worst in both geneologists and public affairs journalist like a good old courthouse fire. Thousands of courthouses have burnt down in the United States over the years destroying countless documents that could have led to relatives or scandal. Well, we recently had a courthouse fire, and due to the lore about them, we covered it completely. It turned out to be little more than a small basement fire, but water flooded a lot of the building. Here’s an artsy shot I got in the midst of it all.

A few weeks ago, I got a call that a 2-year-old child had been hit by car. I was the only photographer available so I went to seen as quickly as I could. When I arrived the child had already been transported to the hospital. Amari Ross later died, but when I was at the scene, I took this shot of the women who was driving the car at the time of the accident. As photojournalists, we sometimes have to cover news like this. Let’s just say, it’s not my favorite thing to do. In telling the story, I try to show that the victim was loved and that those involved feel remorse and regret. I don’t want to exploit carnage and wreckage, when the real story is about emotions and loss. Our paper received this email a few days later:

“Oops, they’ve done it again. I am so tired of the tacky front page photos of families and friends mourning over the lost of a loved one. The photos always seem to be submitted by Cameron Knight. Where is your tact? How can a newspaper that wants to be accredited and should be accredited continue to publish such tacky, ill-feeling photographs of people that are mourning. That’s not news.”

First, I want to clear up the issue of accreditation. Newspapers do not undergo any type of accreditation process. Universities and individual professionals like nurses and police face accreditation. Secondly, what made this story important was the that the apartment complex where the accident took place had faced recent traffic issues. With summer upon us, more children will be outside playing. Maybe someone that saw this picture and read the story drove a little slower the next day. To me, that would be a victory.