A poignant demonstration to begin with, but your global-like distortion due to lens choice gives it an even deeper dimension. I like the addition of the photographer in the shot.
Thank you for the comments. Jesse, my friend and the photog in center frame, were shooting the RNC events together, and after trying to get shots of the display without people, we just stopped trying. At that point, he was focusing on one of the demonstrators, and I thought it looked good as well to have several vantage points subtlely (sp?) in view. He also is more of a long shooter, 80-200 on the camera most of the time, and me, I walk around with a 20 on most of the time and get right in the face of things. On another note, what got me really going about this display was a) how quiet people were, and how respectful of it, but also, b) how distraught people became when the organizers starting reading off the names of the fallen soldiers and Iraqi civilians (they read them in alpha. order by state, then read 20 or so Iraqi names, and then repeat thru 2000 or so names)
I wonder if the photog in front of you realised how much he assisted you in this and in taking his shot allowed you a better one! A very poignant display and wandering around the empty boots allows people to grasp the scale of 1000 lives in a way the bald stats on the news can not. The onlookers are important here as they allow the mind to better visualise the 1000 people standing in those boots. Again, perfect choice of lens.
wonderful image jim. i hadn't heard about this display before...powerful stuff.
as for the photo, great use of the fisheye, got tons of those boots in the shot, and gives the skyline an interesting contour. i only wish their weren't so many onlookers....but what can you do??
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