A lesson in death

I've been told I look like a tough guy. People always smirk when I jokingly say that I am a sensitive guy. The truth is, I really am. Sensitive or insensitive, photographing death is not easy - at least I don't think so. You can turn your brain off, but sooner or later you have to deal with it.

The photos below are the reaction from friends and family after a fire broke out in the 8000 block of Kenton Street Wednesday July 13, 2011 in Houston.

I will never forget that the sound of Dorothy Hampton's voice as she yelled for her mother while seeing investigators remove the bodies of the victims from the home. One of the victim was Dorothy's mother. When she began to yell for her mother, tears came to my eyes, and a sick feeling filled my stomach. It made me think of my own mother. Looking back on it, I think what really got me was the sound of her voice. I have photographed tears and sad faces - the voice got me. With the camera to my face, I remembered while I was there. I wouldn't do her any good just standing there. I kept shooting.

I hate taking those photos. I hate being, the "person" for lack of a better word, having to photograph someone losing someone they care about. We get to be a part of the joy in people's lives, I guess we should have to photograph their misery as well.



Joseph Moore (center left) comforts his mother Dorothy Hampton (center) as investigators remove the victims from a home after a fire started at 5:00 a.m. in a house in the 8000 block of Kenton Street claiming the lives of her mother along with another victim Wednesday, July 13, 2011, in Houston. Firefighters put out the blaze about half an hour after it started, and have yet to determine the cause. ( Cody Duty / Houston Chronicle )



Friends and family watch as the victims of a fire are loaded into the medical examiner's van after a blaze broke out in a house at 5:00 a.m. in the 8000 block of Kenton Street Wednesday, July 13, 2011, in Houston. Firefighters put out the blaze about half an hour after it started, but the fire still claimed two lives. The victims names have yet to be released.( Cody Duty / Houston Chronicle )



Reverand Kenneth Holman leads friends and family in prayer after a fire claimed two lives after a blaze broke out in a home in the 8000 block of Kenton Street Wednesday, July 13, 2011, in Houston. "Eddie was a real good friend of mine," Holman said of one of the victims. "We used to go out and cut lawns together. He will be well missed, I miss him already." Firefighters have yet to determine the cause of the blaze that erupted at 5:00 a.m. ( Cody Duty / Houston Chronicle )



Dorothy Hampton wipes her eyes as she watches investigators remove the victims from a home after a fire started at 5:00 a.m. in a house in the 8000 block of Kenton Street claiming the lives of her mother along with another victim Wednesday, July 13, 2011, in Houston. Firefighters put out the blaze about half an hour after it started, and have yet to determine the cause. ( Cody Duty / Houston Chronicle )



A tear rolls down the cheek of a woman as she watches medical examiners investigate after a fire started in a house at 5:00 a.m. in the 8000 block of Kenton Street claiming the lives of two victims Wednesday, July 13, 2011, in Houston. Firefighters put out the blaze about half an hour after it started, and have yet to determine the cause. ( Cody Duty / Houston Chronicle )



Annie Felder (right) hugs her cousin Dorothy Hampton (center) as Hampton's son Joseph Moore (left) looks on after medical examiners loaded the body of Hampton's mother into the van after a fire consumed two victims in a fire that started at 5:00 a.m. in a house in the 8000 block of Kenton Street Wednesday, July 13, 2011, in Houston. Firefighters put out the blaze about half an hour after it started, and have yet to determine the cause. ( Cody Duty / Houston Chronicle )