La foto de portada con la que abría su edición dominical el New York Times.
Una cuidada instantánea de Doug Mills en el entierro de Ted Kennedy en el cementerio de Arlington. Lens, el extraordinario blog de fotografía y periodismo del New York Times, sobre la historia detrás de la fotografía —cómo Mills buscó el ángulo correcto y, a pesar de la poca luz que había ya a esa hora de la tarde, consiguió la fotografía—. Un adelanto:
Mr. Mills’s gripping and emotional image of Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s burial — showing family members embracing in a glowing light and children kneeling before the casket — was the result of one of those risky but rewarding choices. It was published across five columns at the top of the front page in Sunday’s late edition.
At Arlington, there were only two vantage points sanctioned for press photographers. Mr. Mills was assigned a position along a hill with photographers from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, The Washington Post and The Boston Globe. Reuters was in a photographers’ pool across from the casket. Other photographers thought that position would yield the decisive shot, Mr. Mills said.
The service, scheduled to begin at 5:30, was repeatedly delayed. As the hours passed, so did the deadlines to file page-one photographs. At one point, the press coordinator notified the pool that there was space for one still photographer down the hill, next to the television camera crews, about 20 yards from the casket.
“I’ll do it,” Mr. Mills recalled saying, before even seeing the location. “I’m going to take my chances.”
He set up next to a large tree with a drooping branch. “My mind was now thinking it through,” he said. “I’m going to have this. I won’t have that.” There were rumors of thunderstorms, but he had another concern: night was approaching.
At dusk, the casket was carried in by the pallbearers. Around 8 p.m., the ceremony finally began. “I couldn’t see anything,” Mr. Mills said. “I couldn’t even see the casket, it was so dark.” He rested his camera on a chain link fence to get an exposure.
