Frank Fournier took the infamous image of Omayra Sánchez Garzón
The photographer who snapped the heart-wrenching image of Omayra Sánchez Garzón which sent shockwaves around the world opened up about the impact she had on him more than 35 years after the tragedy.
Frank Fournier, 76, was the man on the ground and behind the lens when the Nevado del Ruiz volcano in Colombia erupted and wiped out nearly two thirds of the 29,000 residents in the town of Armero.
It melted glaciers on the mountain, which in turn triggered a devastating pyroclastic mudflow, known as lahar, which engulfed Armero – while leaving locals completely submerged in the sludge.
Omayra was one of the people who ended up pinned under the debris and volcanic mud after the landslide smashed into her family home, and agonisingly, she spent three whole days submerged in the muddy pool of water.
Despite desperate attempts to free the 13-year-old, rescuers could not find a way to get her out – so instead, they made her as comfortable as possible, while placing a tyre around her to keep her afloat.
The infamous portrait of tragic Omayra Sánchez Garzón taken by Frank Fournier (Wikimedia Commons/Frank Fournier)
Journalists, photographers, TV crews, Red Cross workers and emergency officials had gathered around her, hoping for an eleventh hour rescue which ultimately never came – but one of these was Fournier.
The photojournalist took a haunting image of Omayra shoulder-deep in the water with tired, black eyes, which ultimately went around the world, and he later praised her for ‘facing death with courage and dignity’.
Tragically, Fournier recalled how the young girl had started to hallucinate and asked him to take her to school as she was scared she would be late – which inspired the title of a section of a lecture he hosted in 2022.
Taking to the stage at the sixth edition of Xposure International Photography Festival more than 35 years on from Omayra’s death, he stunned the room into silence while presenting a segment titled ‘Please Take Me To School’.
The French snapper educated the audience on the eruption of Nevado del Ruiz, before moving on to discuss the heroic 13-year-old girl he produced the infamous portrait of.
The photojournalist paid tribute to the 13-year-old in 2022 (YouTube/xposurexpf)
Fournier said: “For three nights and three days – stuck in a pool of sewage water at the bottom of small hill, lay crushed under layers upon layers of fallen wall, a voice was to speak in the name of 28 thousand.
“It was a voice of an ordinary little girl who will cross land and time, and will bounce and pierce the heart of millions of people.
“A commanding dignity, a stunning courage and a relentless kindness during this oppressive and painful hour reveals more than ever the magnitude of every single individual.
“As the sewage water kept rising slowly to reach the level of her lips, 12 years old Omayra Sánchez faced a slow, violent, implacable death.
“The cruel fate of this lost life – here, but also in the other story imposed to all of us to preserve and share is the singularity of human life at all costs.
“No matter the specific mode of existence, the social and cultural condition, we need to challenge the vicious politics of life inequality imposed on others by our leaders and by ourselves,” the photographer continued.
“It is not only a practical, but ethical, political, imperative, as each individual has a right to life for the gain of everyone.”
Fournier went on to display other incredible shots he had taken of the deadly eruption, before explaining that it only took around 45 minutes for the lahar to reach Armero and wreak havoc.
But it was the image of Omayra, which won the 1985 World Press Photo award, which still proved the most impactful all these years on.
