The other day I photographed emergency responders during a rescue from a rolled over bus close to Reykjavík. As events unfolded and I did my best to document what was happening I started thinking, as I have often done before, how important this documenting is. What type of images are going to be needed when we start learning from this? What is going to be useful in the aftermath? Are we going to be looking into communications, co-operations, vehicle extraction, triage etc. The thing is, I'm not shooting for the media. I am shooting for the responders. I am not in a hurry to get the images out. So there is less pressure and I can focus on other things. I try to get wide shots of the whole scene, images of co-operation between different players, someone talking on the radio, using a particular piece of equipment, etc. And as always I also try to get the human element, the expressions on a rescuers face and emotions involved. I am constantly learning and re-evaluating what is important and what different emergency agencies need in terms of imagery. What are they going to need tomorrow, next week or even in ten years? And as I learn more I get further convinced of the importance of imagery for the purpose of learning, presenting and inspiring in SAR.
