LIFE IN THE BALANCE
Herald photographer wins award for image
Veteran Herald photographer Mark Garfinkel’s powerful image of a frantic rescue effort at a flooded construction site has been awarded top honors in a prestigious national contest.
Garfinkel’s photo — showing a moment of despair as a worker kneeling amid rushing water struggled to help others trapped in a trench — was selected by the National Press Photographer’s Association for “Best of Photography” first place in the Domestic News Single category.
A Dartmouth Street water main break last Oct. 21 suddenly filled a deep trench with a torrent of gushing water, trapping and eventually killing two workers who were in the hole. As firefighters tried to secure a ladder in the hole, this construction worker rushed from a different job site and tried to get a chain attached to a back hoe to lower into the maelstrom.
Garfinkel, who has accumulated multiple honors during his more than two decades at the Herald, followed a flood of water flowing by his car while he was heading to another assignment and found this scene unfolding in front of him. He covered the tragic event for several hours.
“We’re really proud of Mark. This was a tragic event, yet his dramatic photos at the trench collapse really captured the unselfish efforts by the construction worker and firefighters to try and save the trapped men,” said Photo Editor Jim Mahoney.
“Excellence in breaking news photojournalism is much more than getting to a scene first. It requires instinct and risk, composure and focus, and most importantly compassion for people whose lives are being forever changed before the camera lens,” Herald Editor-in-Chief Joe Sciacca said. “Mark is the embodiment of all these qualities. The Herald is proud of him, his work and this great distinction he has earned.”