Visualizing collective grief in Poland

The tragedy which hit Poland yesterday has cast the country into collective mourning. 97 people were killed in the plain crash, including Poland’s president Lech A. Kacynski, his wife, the chief of National Security Office, the chief of the National Bank, and several other prominent figures of Poland’s political and cultural Elite.

Newspapers the world over are today filled with pictures of Poland in mourning. Tens of thousands have gathered in front of the presidential palace leaving flowers, and lighting candles enclosed in colored glass. The streets have been turned into a sea of colorful flowers and light accompanied by people singing hymns and the sound of church bells.

Collective grief is played out visually in the streets and in churches, but also in the polish online media (and in paper?). In contrast to the colorful display in the streets, the media are today published in black and white. It is interesting to experience the sober feelings this visual instrument creates – an aura of sorrow and remembrance. The use of black and white does not only visually demonstrate the grief of the publishers and newspaper staff, but encapsulates the reader, whether Polish or foreign, in a particular mood of respect or sorrow. In this manner, grief takes place both in the real world and online.

The polish tragedy is not the first time black and white publishing is used to demonstrate collective mourning. During the three day morning period after the earthquake in China in May 2008, most newspapers were published in black and white, online and offline, and on social web-sites people turned their buddy-icons into colorless images. One year later, the victims were again remembered in the same manner, but also including black and white photo montages on television accompanied by emotional music. Using black and white front pages to mark sorrow has been a tradition in China since before the Second World War according to some commentators. In the west, the first use of this visual effect known to me was when Yahoo turned its pages black and white to mark the grief after September 11, 2001 terrorist attack.