Fall. By Lila COURTENS & Lalia BOU SAID

 

The Accident...

The Hole...

The first picture was taken on the day the drama occured: the 16th of September 2015. It shows the immediate aftermath of the accident: we can see a fire truck in the corner of the photograph, and in the background a tree that has fallen over. 

The other picture was taken one week after the accident; it shows the stump of the tree like the open mouth of a big monster...

When our friend took the first picture, the weather was cold. She felt worried because she had witnessed the scene: the two women who had been injured by the falling tree, the police and the firemen. She had thought: "It could have been me under that tree… I could have been hurt or even killed!"

When we took the second picture it was cold too. We saw the tree carcass. There was nobody around, no noises, no movement... Just silence. It felt strange.

First photograph: in the left corner of the picture we see a  fire truck so we can imagine that there has been an accident and when we look at the picture more closely we see that a tree has crashed to the ground and we understand that this is the problem. The quality of the photograph is not very good because it was taken using a cell phone, but it gives the picture an appropriate press-photo look.

The second picture just shows a gaping hole. It's mysterious; we can't really recognize what it is. It is a little disturbing.

In “The Accident", we do not know the nature of the accident, its causes or consequences (if anyone has been hurt)…

In "The Hole", the tree stump takes on a supernatural aspect; it is quite frightening, echoing the violence of the accident. Will this deathly thing swallow us up?

"Fall" means to fall (negative) and it is a synonym of autumn (evocative of trees losing their leaves…). Why did the tree fall on this autumn day, just at that moment, just as two women were walking past under it; is it by accident or was it fate?

There is a contrast between the pictures: one looks like a newspaper photo (it is about “fact”), whereas the second is more “arty” and mysterious (it is about emotions). Accidents happen (fact), and we fear them (emotions).

Our pictures are a reminder that something bad can happen to you, anywhere, any time. Living in the city, with its many dangers, real or imagined, makes people feel insecure. Insecurity is a common city sensation...