Above an earlier post — “Reading a Conversation” — there is a picture by Gleb Garanich. The picture is from a military parade in Kiev. Oddly enough, Mr. Garanich himself was in the news this month. He is regarded as a hero, with good reason.
You will want to see this article from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. Garanich is a veteran Ukrainian photographer. As RFE/RL says, “he was famously photographed soaked with blood after being struck by a riot policeman during Ukraine’s 2013–14 Euromaidan protests.” He continued working that day.
On September 15 of this year, he was covering a gay-pride march in Kharkov (the second-largest city in Ukraine, also spelled “Kharkiv”). I will keep quoting RFE/RL: “When the march ended, most of the participants left safely through a nearby subway station, but a crowd of far-right counterdemonstrators had gathered in a neighboring park, apparently on the hunt for LGBT activists attempting to leave on foot.”
One of those attempting to leave was a “slightly built teenager with a streak of dyed hair,” who tried to “move through the burly opposition group.” They set upon him “amid chants and cheers.” Garanich “shot several photographs of the shocking scene that unfolded in front of him.” Then he stepped in to rescue the victim and, “without addressing the mob, simply walked the teen out of the situation.”
A fellow photographer, Andrew Kravchenko, filmed this, later saying that Garanich may well have saved the young man’s life.
Journalists are never supposed to enter the story — except when they should, and must. They (we) are human beings first. A deep bow to Gleb Garanich.
A bow to RFE/RL, too, an invaluable organization, of which Americans can be particularly proud. I wrote about the organization last year: “Still Broadcasting Freedom.”