Photograph by: Virginia Schau Image Source: Wikimedia Commons
While the democratisation of photography has often been frowned upon, it has, however, proven to be quite effective, especially in the domain of citizen journalism. An example of this is the photograph featured above, titled Rescue on Pit River Bridge, captured by Virginia Schau on 3 May 1953. Virginia and her husband Walter, along with her parents, were passing by the upper Sacramento River on their fishing trip when Paul M Overby, a truck driver carrying fruits and vegetables, met with an accident.
According to reports, the Schaus were behind the truck when Overby realised that something was wrong with his steering mechanism. Before he could stop, the steering failed and the truck collided with the bridge’s steel railing. Miraculously, the cabin, with Overby and his helper, Henry Baum, trapped inside, managed to dangle 40 feet above the river. Walter, along with others, began the rescue operation using a long rope. While her husband was helping the drivers, Virginia ran to the other side of the bridge, armed with her Kodak Brownie, a gift from her sister. With only two exposures at her disposal, she used both, one of which was this photograph. After rescuing Overby, Walter went to help a semiconscious Baum when the cabin caught fire. As soon as Walter pulled Baum out, the cabin was completely enveloped with fire and fell into the river.
Later, after her father’s prompting, Virginia participated in the Sacramento Bee’s weekly photo contest, which she won, along with a prize of ten dollars. The image was then obtained by the Associated Press and distributed globally. A year later, an utterly surprised Virginia learnt that her photograph won the Pultizer Prize for Photography, making her the first woman and second amateur photographer (after Arnold Hardy) to do so. The money that she earned from the award and other outlets for using the photograph helped her with the hospital bills of her first-born child, a boy.
This article originally appeared in the November 2021 issue of Better Photography.