Choosing images of war’s horrors

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, stories and photos have dominated the Union-tribune’s front pages. Most days, a four- or five-column picture occupies the most prominent position above the fold.

The job of poring through sometimes more than 100 photos a day, depending on how heavy the coverage from news services, falls to U-T photo assignment editor Roger Wilson and Sam Hodgson, director of photography and video.

Photo after photo of buildings in flames, vehicles destroyed and Ukrainians suffering stream across their computer screens from five news services — The Associated Press, Getty Images, The New York Times, The Washington Post and the U-T’S sister paper, the Los Angeles Times.

They look for photos that reflect the news of the day — a particular city under siege, a maternity ward or train station that has been bombed, charges of war crimes, or maybe Easter being celebrated.

“We’re seeing a lot of destruction — blown out buildings,” Hodgson said. “We see bodies piled up, strewn all over the ground, covered in blood. The worst of it some days.”

While Wilson and Hodgson and the A1 editors are sensitive to displaying gore to readers, there are days when a graphic photo must be considered to accurately provide the news.

This happened for the April 5 edition. The story of the day April 4 was of mounting evidence of war crimes committed by Russian troops after the discovery of mass graves and the bodies of civilians around the suburbs of Kyiv. The main photo on A1 April 5, published at the top of the page, showed an older Ukrainian woman holding her hand to her mouth in shock as she stood in her yard among three dead civilians. A smaller photo showed a dead man’s hands bound.

The discussion to run the photos involved the photo editors, Design Director Michael Price, Managing Editor Lora Cicalo and Editor and Publisher Jeff Light.

Cicalo said there were more graphic photos that day, but the one of the woman and her emotional reaction to the bodies captured the story of what had happened and of suspected executions.

Another photo that also was thoroughly discussed was one of a woman kneeling outside a train station that had been bombed. The woman’s face was bloodied. A man could be seen at the edge of the frame lying on the ground. It was unclear if he was alive. The photo ran April 9, again in the most prominent position on the front page.

Wilson said that the woman survived was the determining factor in deciding to publish the photo.

“People’s faces, the terribleness of it all, is really with the people,” Wilson said.

ANDREA CARRUBBA ANADOLU AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES This is the photo that ran on the front page April 9 of a Russian attack on a railway station in eastern Ukraine on April 8. It came with a warning to editors because of its graphic nature.