I'm not sure if the following message got in to Photo Forum, so here it is again: Gregory Fraser wrote: > Elson T. Elizaga (Operating Room) - Copyright notice much better. Image > rather clinical (no pun intended). Operating room shots don't seem to thrill > me but these images are very well done technically and more than just a > record of events. This composition reminds me of a classic painting where > all the lines lead to the center of interest. Are these shots staged? Thanks for your review. The shot was not staged. We had no control of the environment and the doctors and nurses, and were not allowed to get close to the activity, except from a distance of about 6 feet only. When we got inside the room, the doctors had put on their garments, and proceeded at once to do their job. I didn't look at the cutting directly. I was hesitant about this assignment, but several observations of surgical footages in Discovery Channel and National Geographic must have helped. As a boy, I had also watched live chickens and pigs being butchered, but nothing, of course, compares to watching a live operation on a human being, even if the cutting is on the thigh only. I made several shots of this operation, some with flash bounced on the ceiling, resulting in brighter pictures, something close to the real situation, but looking slightly awkward, because the doctors and nurses were wearing variedly colored garments. I had wanted them to use uniforms, but when I saw this photo, I was thankful about the use of the green cap. It seems to contrast nicely with the color of blood -- both symbols of life. What appears here as a cutting tool, however, is washed out. I think this is a flaw, and also the head of a nurse sticks out of the shoulder of the doctor on the right. Elson
