This is such a Postmodern mind fuck I don't even know where to begin. Picture of Russian ambassador's assassination wins World Press Photo award. A photograph of an assassination in an art gallery with a photography exhibition entitled "Russia through Turks' eyes." Russian victim, Turkish assassin.
A photo that looks staged but isn't.
The Tarantino-attired hit-man straight out of Reservoir Dogs yelled “Don’t forget Aleppo, don’t forget Syria! Step back! Step back! Only death can take me from here.”
The Atlantic lays out some context and the Franz Ferdinand analogy that popped into my head.
It is also difficult not to draw historical parallels to other assassinations that have sparked broader conflagrations; despite the limits of the analogy many drew to the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in June 1914, which led to the First World War, global tensions today are such that seemingly small events could easily escalate, with dire geopolitical consequences. Though Turkish-Russia relations have thawed since the downing of the jet last year—after which, at one point, a poll found Turks viewing Russia as the country’s top threat—thousands of Turks have in recent days protested Russia’s involvement in Syria as the rebel-held enclaves in eastern Aleppo have collapsed.The pristine white floor under the ambassador's back compared to the painterly strokes of blood around the dead assassin. Burhan Ozbilici manages to get a perfectly crisp shot of the assassin while he's waving a gun about and yelling at the cowering patrons, but it all gets fuzzy and out of focus when the assassin is dead and no longer a threat.
Which is actually how it kind of works. I've had a gun pointed in my face and I was as calm as an egg, everything before writ in crystalline clarity, all sharp edges and a purity of thought and action in an almost Zen-like harmony.
And then, when it was over, at the next red light, hands trembling, confusion, fear, a wellspring of emotion.
But this is old news now, just wanted to get a few random thoughts out there into the ether.
