It Was a Good Day

Photographer: Oded Balilty
Caption: A lone Jewish settler challenges Israeli security officers during clashes that erupted as authorities cleared the West Bank settlement of Amona, east of the Palestinian town of Ramallah. Thousands of troops in riot gear and on horseback clashed with hundreds of stone-throwing Jewish settlers holed up in this illegal West Bank outpost after Israel's Supreme Court cleared the way of demolition of nine homes at the site. (February 1, 2006)

The photo lab at school has undergone renovations over the summer and one of the things that changed are the pictures that were displayed. The new pictures are all from MU Photojournalism alumni. The old pictures, the ones that they decided to get rid of, are from the New Deal exhibit. To quote Davd Rees:
"Here's the history on that exhibit: created by the Smithsonian, it traveled the country for a few years in the 1980s & early 90s. When it was finished touring, it was given to the Museum of Art and Archeology here on campus. They stored it, but never showed it. When Lee Hills Hall opened in 1996 the museum offered the exhibit to us... So, we were glad to have those pictures, as many of the photographers had also been part of the original Farm Security Administration project - and the photo documentary approach that has so heavily influenced our program and American Photojournalism.

Since the School didn't want to dispose of them, they offered them to us students. So, I journeyed to the photo lab and sorted through the pictures and came home with 2 prizes. The first was a picture from the New Deal collection, of girls jumping rope. The second, why it just made my day, was this huge print (seen above) by Oded Balilty. I've often looked at this picture, hung in the photo lab, and yearned for it. I don't know exactly what it is about it, but I really love it. And I lucked out and scored the print!!! I haven't hung it yet - I need some help to make sure that it will be straight - but I'm very excited about this picture.

And when I went online to find the photographer and caption information, I discovered that Oded Balilty had won a Pulitzer for this picture! I knew it had won in POYi (Human Conflict -- First Place, 2007), but not a Pulitzer.

I now own a Pulitzer-prize winning print. It doesn't make me like the picture any more, but it's still pretty darn cool!

The ironic thing is, I almost didn't go. I wasn't feeling good, but decided at the last minute to go. Way to encourage me, God.