John tlumacki biography

Jan 5, 2014

EDITOR'S NOTE:

Unlike other Image Deconstructed examinations, this situation presented its iconic image first, followed with documentation over fewer than 15 minutes. Instead of exploring just one image, we will explore the situation as a whole.

TID:

The first thing you encounter after the first bomb detonates is runner Bill Iffrig on the ground with police officers in front of him, one with a pistol drawn. This image quickly turned into the iconic image from the marathon bombing when Sports Illustrated put it on its cover that day. It is the image with which we begin the deconstruction. Talk us through those few seconds you had photographing this moment.

JOHN:

This photo was taken within seconds after the first bomb exploded a little over 45 feet away from me. I was standing on the finish line on Boylston Street photographing different runners crossing the finish. I remember one of the last runners was a man who was holding the hands of children, and the announcer in the booth at the finish line would announce the names of certain runners. There was applause from the spectators that lined the sidewalk near the finish line. It was not unusual for me to still be shooting over two and a half hours after the winners already finished. I always made some of my best photos at that time — of runners dressed in costumes or crawling to the finish line. The average runners were running now, and most were raising money for different charities. When the bomb went off, I was jolted by the explosion to the point that my horizon was tilted in my photos. I looked to the right in the direction of the bomb and first thought that maybe a canon salute went off, or even a manhole cover exploded. At the same time I was running forward already, and saw Bill Iffrig on the ground as I ran toward him. I just kept shooting and the three Boston Police officers ran toward him and me as

On April 15, 2013, two homemade bombs exploded near the finish line at the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring more than 260. Although five years have passed, for Boston Globe photographer John Tlumacki, it “seems like yesterday.”

Before the explosions, Tlumacki described the day as “normal, like any other April day.” A staff photographer for 30 years, Tlumacki had been covering the marathon for two decades, which usually averages around 30,000 participants a year. He knew the best spot for photos was at the finish line.

That’s where he was on that “normal” April day when he heard the first explosion. Tlumacki ran toward the sound, thinking perhaps a manhole cover had blown off. But when a second explosion went off seconds later, he knew something bad was happening.

As he made it to the sidewalk, Tlumacki saw he was right. On the ground were dozens of bloody and injured spectators, many of them missing body parts. A police officer yelled at him to leave the area in case another bomb detonated but he didn’t move. For 15 minutes, he didn’t take his eye off the camera, documenting the chaos and confusion, but also snapping photos of people helping others. Looking back, Tlumacki said it was probably foolish of him to stay, but he feels he did the right thing.

“I had an obligation to stay there as a journalist,” he said, “to stay there and take photos.”

Tlumacki isn’t alone. For many journalists covering traumatic events, it’s that sense of obligation to do their job that makes them run toward danger rather than away from it. Along with police, firefighters and paramedics, journalists are often the first responders to a scene. And like first responders working traumatic events, they are at risk of showing psychological problems, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and substance abuse.

From natural disasters to mass shootings, jou

John Tlumacki kept seeing the photographs he took in the grisly aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings playing like a slideshow in his head over and over, images of people crying for help and helping each other deal with their injuries. Those nightmares began almost a month after the bombings.

“The camera became my enemy,” said Tlumacki, a longtime Boston Globe photojournalist. “I didn’t even want to pick it up anymore … ”

Tlumacki said he became angry as he was taking photographs of all the carnage, figuring that it was the result of an act of terrorism.

As much as Tlumacki tried to deny it, he said he knew he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Three people died and nearly 270 were injured in the April 2013 bombings near the Boston Marathon’s finish line on Boylston Street.

The Marathon bombings were among the latest instances in which reporters covered scenes of multiple deaths and destruction. New England has experienced others in the not-too-distant past.

In December 2012, 20 children and six adult staff members were shot to death at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. And in February 2003, 100 people were killed and 230 people were injured during The Station nightclub fire in West Warwick, R.I.

Part of being a journalist is covering traumatic events like those. According to experts interviewed by the Bulletin, reporters should treat such events not only as professionals, but also as human beings.

George Everly Jr., an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, said the more preparation journalists can have in dealing with stressful or traumatic events, the more they will understand what they could confront on the job.

“Before someone goes into this career, that’s when you prepare,” Everly said. “That should be an obligation that schools of journalism should have. We have to do a better job setting appropriate expectations, because this kind of work is not