In a culture where images of guns are normalized , do images of gunshot wounds themselves move us ? What are the feelings that Shorr ’ s images evoke in us ? What should we do with them ?
Despite the pervasiveness of guns in our culture , many of us have not seen the aftermath , the actual wound . That includes me .
My first reaction , when looking at some of Shorr ’ s images , is shock at the bodily damage a gunshot can do . I had imagined a simple hole where the bullet entered or exited , scarred over and easy to hide .
But as Shorr reveals through these images , gunshot wounds are also our biography , worn on the body , with physical markings that reflect the intensity of the psychological
trauma . The consequences are pervasive , deep , and longlasting . People experience anger and dissociation , anxiety and depression , post-traumatic stress disorder .
Beyond that , children who witness such violence , their families , and indeed entire communities experience the emotionally debilitating effects of these events . Increased gun sales can arise from a sense of insecurity , and children may find their outdoor play and socialization reduced as parents keep them inside and out of the way of gun violence . another 30,622 people were injured . Already in 2017 , 3,765 deaths from guns have occurred and another 7,185 people have been injured .
In Vermont , where I live , firearms cause 60 % of domestic violence deaths . Women suffering domestic violence are eight times more likely to be killed if there is a firearm in the home . And although gun-related domestic violence isn ’ t always fatal , assaults committed with guns are twelve times more likely to kill their victims than those involving other weapons or bodily force .
In other words , guns intensify intimate partner violence .
I am not so sure the rest of the world is as moved to action by data as I am , though . Then , I am , reminded when I look at Shorr ’ s photos of the words of Anthony Kwame Appiah , who , in his book Cosmopolitanism , asks : “ What do we owe strangers by virtue of our shared humanity ?” Shorr ’ s work is a magnet that pulls us toward that feeling of a shared humanity .
Women carry the major burden of
emotional healing and repair for the family , and so the after-effects of gun violence weigh especially heavy on them .
In other images , Shorr invites us to gaze into the eyes of the survivor — and in these , we are drawn into their humanity . Like
Ondelee , shot in the face as a 14-year old , by another boy who had an argument with him at a house party . Ondelee ’ s mom had to quit her job to care for him after the shooting . It ’ s a stunning reminder of how the entire family suffers when a loved one has been shot .
As a mother myself , I look into Ondelee ’ s eyes , and I see my son . I wonder who the viewer sees . Do you feel his mother by his side ?
Human connection is the first and perhaps most important touchstone by which we weave our lives together . And yet , I am someone who believes in the persuasiveness of hard data . According to the
Gun Violence Archive , 15,070 people in the U . S . died by gunshot wounds in 2016 and
( Next page ) After stating that he planned to kill her , Marlys was shot through the heart by her husband of 41 years . Canoga Park , California , 1999 . © Kathy Shorr . Courtesy of the artist .
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