“The police chief always began his interrogations with the utmost courtesy. Just because a murder was at hand didn’t mean he had to behave like some kind of hoodlum. Besides, he liked seeing a glimmer of hope flash across his victim’s face. People were so naive.”
—The Old Man Who Didn’t Want to Celebrate His Birthday, Jonas Jonasson.
A sinister week. France made headlines across the world. Toulouse, known as the “pink city” for its brick architecture, went black. Photos from the tragedy are yet to surface, and although I have no objections, it does raise a question. If the same thing were to happen in another country, photographers there would do their job. There are certain newspapers here that would publish them, and there are certain readers, like me, who would look at them… Should we photograph everything, show everything? In an adult society there would be no doubt—but I don’t see any around.
