Watching and receding

Arnold Genthe was a great photographer. This particular one is of San Francisco taken April 18, 1906, the aftermath of the Great Quake that became the Great Fire. It took three days after the quake to burn over 4 square miles before the U.S. Army used dynamite to put out the fire. By then 435 died and 514 city blocks had burned. A lot was learned from the event, affecting architecture, fire and safety standards and city planning for the future.

But what strikes me so much about this photograph is the calm spectacle sense of the crowd watching. They are lined block by block, watching as the fire consumes what hasn't been destroyed by the quake. The photographer watched as the fire grew closer, people would move up a block and settle down to watch again, quite calmly, but maybe just numb. They'd already endured quite a lot from the quake but now a fire consumed the rest. They just sat watching..waiting...

Well if you get a chance to look at more of Genthe's photos you'd see a view of the times that few cared to capture. He most definitely had a good eye with a camera.