No one left to cry for Iraqis.

If a single innocent man is to be killed in the developed world ,the

media stats to shouts for days ,and an every day organized criminal

bombing and killing by dozens is to passed unnoticed by the whole world .

Hi Saad,

A  statement both in words and though this image well expressed my friend.

Best Regards, Mike

Touching photograph.

One cannot argue with the truth Saad! Well done, well said.

All the best,
Neil

A clear, moving message, a work done with artistic mastery as well

Very mysterious and maybe painful as emotional expression! Low key adds to that Impression! Well done Saad! Very well done!

Best regards

PDE

excellent bw! very good work my friend

Absolutely impressive ,your title make me feel sad .

I don't like this picture. Clearly this image of a sculpture, of a draped figure in despair, in what appears to be a dark field of rubble (?), was an emotional touchstone to the photographer. The white figure does contrast well against the dark surround. However, without the title, I wouldn't have a clue what this scene is suppose to represent. All the pathos of the image is not delivered by the photographer but by the hand of the sculptor. Perhaps if the object were given more context of the war ravaged surround I could make the connection better, but in this scene, the surround is hard to identify as rubble much less war torn Iraq. Indeed, even the sculpture itself does not read as signature "Iraqi Woman" and could exist as a Judeo-Christian symbol in a church. The title is helpful but I need more visual clues, in the image, to connect with it at an emotional level.

I like the lighting on the subject, but otherwise I think Louis has this image pegged. If the photographer has a valid socio-political position to espouse, it's not accomplished through this image.

If Saad Salem is doing an ironic twist on the very over-photographed theme of The Homeless -- here, going Global in both spatial and in terms of meaning; instead of an abandoned individual in a particular country, giving us a homeless icon (abandoned symbol; abandoned meaning, abandoned sentiments), then it's an interesting attempt. The lack of context is the point.

But, setting that aside and just looking at the picture, I enjoy the way it contradicts its materials. The stone woman/wraith appears light as air -- she floats as if only the tethering of her trailing robe keeps her from flying away.

[[in what appears to be a dark field of rubble (?)]]

Seems more likely to be a cemetery.

The wraith-like qualities - which I think is what Julie suggests - are what I see in this anguished image. These qualities are imparted by the person presenting the work and for me Saad has succeeded in presenting an evocative image. The caption is his personal interpretation and need not resonate with others - it does not with me. But then I prefer my images served up sans the photographer's directive intrusion...
This is not to say that I have no sympathies for the Iraqi people...

The subject and your tonal value placement makes this an exceptional image, Saad. Your comments add to its poignancy

I've never really known how to critique photographs of other works of art. It seems most of the image is about the original art creation, while the photography is limited to lighting, context, sharpness, and other more technical aspects. Often there is very little to say about the photography. Here I think Saad has done well with the lighting -- the figure is emphasized to a degree that sets it apart but still includes the surrounding environment. What I see here is despair, and I see it very clearly, thanks to the original sculptor and to Saad. That's good enough for me. If Saad sees something more specific (possibly due to where this was photographed), I can respect that without compromising my own interpretation.

The photographic perspective adopted is more that of a fairly straight recording. The lighting and processing support a more tug-at-heartstrings feel. For me, with this perspective and composition, the photo maintains its distance and is still. It seems to recognize something without meeting the photographic challenge or movement of the sculpture.

This is one of those photographs that makes me say, "I like it, but I don't like it."

The lighting does not look natural to me, with only one part of the statue illuminated. And a lot of the other parts of the image consists of lots of blocked up shadows.

As socio-political commentary, it falls shot of its goal, simply for lack of impact. The lack of detail in the background, while emphasizing the statue in the foreground, dulls the impact for me. If it was indeed shot in a cemetary, I want to see the detail, I want to see the other graves and memorials. I think the photographer tried too hard for metaphor. Or maybe the scene affected him so much, he was unable to convey what he was trying to say...he lost sight of what he was shooting for, perhaps.

But to be fair, there have been so many thousands (millions?) of photographs coming out of war-torn Iraq, that maybe I've just become jaded by the sheer volume of them.

I value the sentiments expressed by the photograph and the photographer...it's just the execution of the idea that I dislike.

It's not easy to comment on this photo given Saad's remarks especially from the perspective of the developed world.

I can only say that the statue spoke to Saad in the context of his remark, and in that way, I'm able to relate to, and appreciate, his inspiration for making the photo.

Statues used as memorials, particularly in cemeteries, seem to evoke powerful emotions that the same statue may not evoke in another context, or to another viewer.

I'm reminded of the Bird Girl statue, which, due to Jack Leigh's photograph that was used on the cover of the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (and echoed in the movie), has become almost indelibly associated with Savannah and, in particular, a certain era that no longer exists, one which I only vaguely recall from childhood in Georgia.

Yet one of the four original castings of the Bird Girl was merely a lawn ornament. The fourth, and most famous, is no longer in Bonaventure Cemetery where Leigh photographed it in 1993 for the book. It's since been moved to the Telfair Museum where I saw it in 2004. In that almost sterile context her power was muted by the cheap knockoffs that proliferated throughout the tourist district as Bird Girl t-shirts, key chains and coffee mugs.

Bonaventure Cemetery retains the moody, gothic old south faded elegance conveyed so concisely by Leigh's original photograph. I found the family plot where she used to stand. But there's a hollow space where she used to be, a hollow space that seems to yearn to repossess the soul epitomized by that simple statue. At least... that's the emotion and personal fictive history I invest into the image. Yet explaining this sensation to someone who hasn't seen the photograph, read the novel, watched the movie and at least visited Savannah, would seem almost futile.

From that perspective I can appreciate what Saad is trying to communicate with this image. But lacking his unique perspective and personal connection to the situation, I can only fumble at grasping some sense of emotion, loss, anger, despair.

How would you consider the photograph without the title? I would say that this is an okay photograph but I would not associate it with

Iraq.. What the Bush regime did to Iraq needs needs an iconic photograph more poignant than this.

Besides, what does "organized criminal bombing" mean anyway?

Photo is OK, but using men statue as far as I know is not consistent with Muslim culture (in relation to rite - for instance funeral). I wonder where the scene was captured.

This shot was taken in the Paris' Père Lachaise cemetery and is compositionally and technically quite good, especially when compared with a more documentary kind of view of this same funeral monument, as this one for example: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/43136108904543402/

The extensive vegetation in this cemetery makes lighting conditions ever changing and quite tricky so Saad has exercised here extensive patience, observation and of course great skill in order to capture this transient moment.

In terms of the title however, I feel as if combined with the image it creates a visual contextomy: A contextomy is a quote that has been taken out of context in such a way as to create a misleading impression of its meaning.

The way the in-focus figure stands against the blurry rest of the cemetery, is quite similar to the quotation taken out of a context. Now we do not have anymore a monument of personal grief to that single innocent-or-not individual laying below the statue, but a universally appealing weeping female figure floating over a rubble-like background. At this point we, humans, are ready for the change of context.

The shot is nevertheless very good.

Best regards, Alex

Yes Alex is right that it is shot at the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris, A well known statue of a mourning wife. I'm not sure, but given the fact, that the cemetery was created in the beginning of the 19th century (1804) near Montmartre, the subject of the mourning is probably the massacre of people of Paris during La Commune uprising, the fourth French revolution, in 1871. Between 6.000 and 30.000 killed. How the Iraq war is introduced by Saad Salem in the title of the photo, can only be explained by pointing at the universal mourning of mothers, wives and daughters of fallen men in the fight for freedom.

I like the shot, that has managed to render the confused background of other monuments and graves, surrounding the mourning woman, into an almost abstract patchwork of dark forms and shades of common mourning. The viewer mourns with her. Very well done, Saad.

Sadly you are wrong in your supposition Anders: The statue in question stands on the tomb of the quite successful French sculptor Augustin-Jean Moreau-Vauthier http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Grave_of_Augustin-Jean_Moreau-Vauthier.

The massacre of the Communards is actually reminded of by a very humble commemorative plaque located on the Communards’ Wall, the exact wall against which the last 147 prisoners were shot and buried where they fell in a mass grave: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communards%27_Wall

Although out of context in relationship to the title, Saad’s shot is nevertheless quite good. It does not relate though to the fear of everyday bombing, as for example this powerful shot: http://www.lynseyaddario.com/#/baghdad--after-the-storm/LA_110730Baghdad_005

Best regards, Alex