RWANDA. Tutsi refugee killed near the parish church of Nyarubuye. 1994

This photograph by Gilles Peress captures a horrific scene near a church in Rwanda. It's an image filled with the stark reality of death, taken in black and white. I try to imagine Peress there, camera in hand, facing something so awful. What does it feel like to look through the lens at this? It’s not paint, but like painting, photography can act as a form of witness. The grainy texture and grayscale tones add to the somber mood. The composition is direct, almost brutal, with the body laid bare, and the surrounding ground, like a stage. The horror is palpable, and the photograph becomes a space for confronting difficult truths. Artists, we are often drawn to the messy, complicated aspects of life. It’s in these moments, when we’re wrestling with something immense, that the deepest connections are made.