A photograph from a funeral in Lebanon captures the collision of grief and armed ritual in a conflict zone. The image documents the burial of Pierre Mouawad, a Lebanese Forces party official, and his wife, killed in an Israeli strike on their apartment in a Christian village east of Beirut. Emilio Morenatti, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Associated Press photographer, captured the moment: armed mourners firing weapons skyward as the coffins passed through the crowd.
The photograph is part of the AP’s “One Extraordinary Photo” series, which highlights exceptional images from the wire service’s archives. Morenatti, who has spent 22 years documenting conflict zones for the AP, said the image demonstrates how photojournalism can reveal the universal experience of grief across cultures and contexts.
The Photographer’s Craft in a Conflict Zone
Emilio Morenatti has spent over two decades as the Associated Press’s chief photographer for Spain and Portugal, traveling to war zones and documenting the human dimensions of conflict. “Covering funerals in conflict zones can be a deeply meaningful and essential way to understand the magnitude of a tragedy,” he said. “Funerals offer a unique opportunity to capture the harsh reality and pain caused by war.”
Morenatti has photographed hundreds of funerals across different cultures and war zones, though each assignment presents its own challenges and constraints.
On April 17, Morenatti found himself working in what he described as dangerous and tightly controlled circumstances. The funeral he was documenting was for Pierre Mouawad, a Lebanese Forces party official, and his wife. They had been killed the previous day in an Israeli strike on their apartment in a Christian village east of Beirut.
Danger and Restriction
The funeral scene was volatile. Dozens of armed men brandished weapons, firing hundreds of bullets skyward in a ritual that served simultaneously as mourning and military display. “The anger and grief of the mourners hung heavy in the air,” Morenatti recalled. “The screams and wails of grieving relatives were swallowed by the relentless crack of automatic gunfire.”
The gunmen had issued explicit warnings. “We were warned not to photograph the gunmen,” Morenatti said. “They made it clear they would turn their weapons on us if we did.”
Morenatti knew he had to work differently. “The challenge was to work unseen—to photograph without being noticed, and still frame the coffins in the background.”
The Shot
When a gunman raised a pistol above the crowd, Morenatti repositioned himself. “I shifted position, placing him in front of the passing coffins. I zoomed in, tightening the frame, and fired a burst just as he emptied his magazine into the air. I knew I had the image.”
The resulting photograph captures the collision of grief and violent ritual—the gunman’s rage directed skyward, the coffins moving beneath, mourners in motion.
Why This Image Matters
For Morenatti, the photograph succeeds at the fundamental task of photojournalism. “In photojournalism, an image must convey a feeling and evoke an emotion,” he said. “I believe this image succeeds in evoking the tension I experienced at that moment, where the rage of the gunman firing his gun into the air also serves as a tribute to those who have lost their lives for a cause.”
Morenatti’s observation reflects a broader truth he has learned across decades of documenting funerals in conflict zones: “Although every culture has its own distinct characteristics, grief is ultimately universal to all of them, and funerals provide those emotional moments where photography can humanize the conflict.”
The photograph is part of the AP’s “One Extraordinary Photo” series, which highlights exceptional images from the news organization’s archives and provides context from the photographers who made them.
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