SHOCKING TIME EVEN FOR AN EXPERIENCED PHOTOGRAPHER
Shocking time even for an experienced photographer
THOUGH he was a seasoned journalist of some 30 years experience, during which he had taken photographs in the aftermath of many bomb and gun attacks, the scale of what happened in Omagh on August 15, 2008, shocked Ulster Herald photographer, Jackie Sloan, "I didn't hear the bomb going off. I had been over visiting my mother in Brookmount Crescent, when I noticed a couple of unusual things like helicopter activity and, since I had my equipment in the car boot, I took a walk up Castle Street. I met Cllr Vincent Campbell who told me, 'There's been a bomb, you'd better get up there, there's people injured.'"
"I went down to Scarffe's Entry and towards the Northern Bank, but there's a wee rise in the road and I couldn't see over it. I asked a police sergeant if I could go forward a bit and he said that I could but told me not to go past a Landrover which was directly in front of the Northern Bank. With my long-lens camera I took one photo, then a policeman ran towards me and told me, in no uncertain terms, to remove myself from the location. I went back to Scarffe's Entry where the public had retreated. No one had a phone signal. In the confusion the police were asking if anyone could get a signal.
"The first fireman that walked past us said there were three confirmed dead; I knew it was bad. As others went by later, and the count went up to seven, I knew it was carnage, a disaster.
"I made my way to Townview and up Campsie and got some pictures with long lenses. By that time, the place was full of press."
The following morning Jackie went to the Leisure Centre which had become something of a nerve centre for operations.
"I didn't want to take photos. I met the chief executive of the council and spoke to people but I didn't take any pictures. The people there were getting the worst possible news and press photographers from England and elsewhere were shoving cameras into the faces of the bereaved. It was a difficult time, but you do have to switch off and do your job. I knew quite a lot of the people killed."
By the time of the funerals, a lot of the international media had moved on and "any photographers remaining observed a code of conduct and kept their distance and weren't intrusive, but we still had to cover the funerals.
"I wasn't overwhelmed because there was only a gradual realisation of the scale of what had happened. We were drip-fed news of more and more casualties."
Jackie also recalls the silence of the crowd as they waited in Scarffe's Entry for news.
"There was a sense of collective shock."
"It was a very busy time. For about two weeks, we were working without a break as eminent clergymen and government ministers visited the town."
THOUGH he was a seasoned journalist of some 30 years experience, during which he had taken photographs in the aftermath of many bomb and gun attacks, the scale of what happened in Omagh on August 15, 2008, shocked Ulster Herald photographer, Jackie Sloan, "I didn't hear the bomb going off. I had been over visiting my mother in Brookmount Crescent, when I noticed a couple of unusual things like helicopter activity and, since I had my equipment in the car boot, I took a walk up Castle Street. I met Cllr Vincent Campbell who told me, 'There's been a bomb, you'd better get up there, there's people injured.'"
"I went down to Scarffe's Entry and towards the Northern Bank, but there's a wee rise in the road and I couldn't see over it. I asked a police sergeant if I could go forward a bit and he said that I could but told me not to go past a Landrover which was directly in front of the Northern Bank. With my long-lens camera I took one photo, then a policeman ran towards me and told me, in no uncertain terms, to remove myself from the location. I went back to Scarffe's Entry where the public had retreated. No one had a phone signal. In the confusion the police were asking if anyone could get a signal.
"The first fireman that walked past us said there were three confirmed dead; I knew it was bad. As others went by later, and the count went up to seven, I knew it was carnage, a disaster.
"I made my way to Townview and up Campsie and got some pictures with long lenses. By that time, the place was full of press."
The following morning Jackie went to the Leisure Centre which had become something of a nerve centre for operations.
"I didn't want to take photos. I met the chief executive of the council and spoke to people but I didn't take any pictures. The people there were getting the worst possible news and press photographers from England and elsewhere were shoving cameras into the faces of the bereaved. It was a difficult time, but you do have to switch off and do your job. I knew quite a lot of the people killed."
By the time of the funerals, a lot of the international media had moved on and "any photographers remaining observed a code of conduct and kept their distance and weren't intrusive, but we still had to cover the funerals.
"I wasn't overwhelmed because there was only a gradual realisation of the scale of what had happened. We were drip-fed news of more and more casualties."
Jackie also recalls the silence of the crowd as they waited in Scarffe's Entry for news.
"There was a sense of collective shock."
"It was a very busy time. For about two weeks, we were working without a break as eminent clergymen and government ministers visited the town."
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH10An/37
Published Date: 14-Aug-08
Related Images
