The Photograph of Xavier Torres

I sent a friend of mine this photograph and told her that I thought it was possibly the greatest photograph I had ever seen. She asked me to explain.

Why it is a great photograph? I knew, as soon as I understood the image, like reading words but instead getting the visual information from a photograph, what the story was. The incredible human without legs, was swimming in a competition pool. Obstacles had been overcome and the splash was like, well to me, triumph, applause, joy. It made me cry because a person who had suffered something I could not imagine, had overcome, become, was, competing. Because of the great concept of the photographer, all this information came through the image without one word spoken. There did not have to be a language. Every human could "see" what was being communicated. How brilliant! And to think that a mechanical tool, a construct of plastic, metal and mind, a machine - a camera, had been used to make me feel emotional connection to another person I did not know.

To answer another way the question raised, I went to the internet. Google produced more than the 1,000 words which the picture replaced. I found that the man who dove into the water in the photograph is Xavier Torres of Spain. He is renowned not only as a great champion in the pool but also as a great champion for adapted swimming and those who overcome challenges and turn them into triumphs. Without the photograph I never would have met him.
Without the idea of the photograph in the mind of the photographer, Bob Martin, I never would have felt just a little of what it is like for Xavier Torres to swim. I am certainly glad that I have.

Google the picture:

Xavier Torres, 2004 Summer Paralympics
Caption: GREECE - SEPTEMBER 20: Swimming: 2004 Summer Paralympics, Aerial view of ESP Xavier Torres prosthetic legs during olympic 200M freestyle handicapped action, Athens, GRC 9/20/2004 (Photo by Bob Martin/Sports Illustrated/Getty Images) (SetNumber: X71893 TK4)
Date created: 20 Sep 2004 Sphere: Related Content