
The Beauty of Pain: Portrait Of A Woman Who Just Lost Her Father
This photo is of an old friend, who had just lost her father to cancer hours before. I feel so many things when looking at this image. There is empathy, sympathy, confusion, and sorrow. I am honored to have been given the opportunity to photograph her is such a shocked state of mind. This is raw emotion. She was drinking, trying not to think about the fact that she just lost her father, all the tasks she needed to complete within the hours to come. It was real, very very real. I look back at it and feel this was probably the most impactful image I have captured to date. To lose a loved one, especially a parent, it’s almost everyone’s greatest fear. You sometimes see photos of people crying at funerals, but this, this was immediate aftermath. It’s rare to capture a moment like this. To me, this ultimately defines the beauty of pain.
KRISTEN CUSUMANO-CRISTIANO, United States, MASSAPEQUA PARK