Photos are not taken, they are made, and only the best of photographers will understand this. Anyone can take a photo, but to catch a photo at the right time to express the right emotion comes down to talent. Few photographs bring out a bundle of emotion; they have managed to express the brutality this world has managed to lash out on each other. Being a photographer myself, I know the value of moment, the perfect moment that would never be back if you miss it.
Today, I bring out to you my series where I will share with you some of the most cherished & shunned moments in human history.
This is a photograph of an East German soldier helping a little boy cross the newly erected Berlin Wall the day it was built, August 13, 1961. In the chaos of the day the boy was somehow found on the wrong side of the wall from his family. Despite being given orders by the East German government to let no one pass into East Berlin, the soldier helped the boy sneak through the barbwire.
It was reported that the soldier was caught doing this benevolent deed by his superior officer, who removed the soldier from his unit. Hopefully his punishment was minor and he wasn’t imprisoned or shot. Descriptions of this photo come with the caveat that “no one knows what became of him.”