A reason why photos are important…

It may be a little crass or uncouth to say, but at the newspaper they called it a “kill.” Its not spoken as a negative thing. In fact, its actually a little humbling.

As I was leaving my internship, the conversation went like this:

“So, you did pretty well this summer. And, hey, you even had a ‘kill’!” said someone.

“What? What does that mean?” I asked, still a newbie at some of the lingo.

“A kill! Its what happens when you’re the last person to talk to or photograph someone before they die.”

“What!? Who was it!?” I was surprised. I had not heard.

“The ex-honor guard. He died about a week later.”

Talmadge Gilley was his name. He had been an Arlington National Cemetery honor guard in the 50’s, interviewed in a documentary (by PBS or History Channel or something), and now he was living in Rockvale, TN, in his little cabin in the middle of a field that he leased to local farmers to tend because he had grown too told too long ago.

He was a humble man and as fascinating as anyone I’d ever met. We immediately shared a quick bond because, only days before, I had been in Washington, DC, and had visited Arlington Cemetery. He had asked me what it was like now – fascinated by the fact they changed the guard every 30min now instead of every hour.

So, DNJ writer Doug Davis and I had visited him for a story that ran on July 4 as a feature on a “living patriot”. This was the photo that ran large:

I had arrived there quite early – probably 20min or more – and had just come off a golf tournament shoot nearby. I was burning up. He made me sweet tea and it was mighty good… the kind boiled and not instant.

And we chatted. Then he was interviewed for the story. Then I hung around and took a few more photos of him including the one above.

Just before I left he said, “You took pictures of Arlington last week, didn’t you?”

“Yes, sir,” I said.

“Well, if you ever have nothing to do, drop by and I’d like to see them sometime,” he said.

As he said that, I compulsively turned around and shot this frame:

Maybe my favorite shot from the entire summer.

Talmadge Gilley’s obituary ran almost 500 words in the same paper on July 19 – barely two weeks later. This was the last photo of him.

And I never got to show him my film from Arlington.

Think about the importance of a single photo. No, this isn’t the first time I’ve had this happen. Actually it has happened 3 or 4 times now that I know of. But for each person, remember what it might have meant. Remember what it might mean to his family to have a few copies of the front of the DNJ with the flag and the blue sky and his face with just a little smirk. My only contribution in the bottom right-hand corner – “DNJ photo by Noah Darnell.”

Just like me coming from that golf tournament to a little cabin in the middle of Nowhere, TN, you never really know what you could be doing.

Stay tuned,

-Noah D.