©2009 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia
A Chicago firefighter surveys the activity of an early morning blaze on the south side of the city. No one was seriously hurt. By the time I arrived, the fire was out – a common situation, if you saw my previous post on the subject. After shooting what I could of the home, I tried to grab a few frames of the steam and visible breath surrounding the firefighters. The experience of scanning a crowd of people to photograph must be similar to what casting agents do when they audition talent. Sometimes a person’s face or expression has a cinematic quality that makes you want to stare a little bit longer. That was the case with this firefighter, whose expression left me wondering. Is it fatigue, sadness, seriousness, or something altogether different…?