Funeral photos and family wishes

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‘It is absolutely DISGUSTING that the L.A. Times had the audacity to put a picture of 17-year-old Jamiel Shaw Jr.’s open casket on the front page. Shame on you, Times. He deserved more respect.’

So wrote Tracy Goldych, of Brea, about the main photo on Wednesday’s Page A1. Other readers left similar criticisms about the large photo.

The message from Paula Green, a long-time reader from Pomona, was, ‘To see on my driveway at 6 this morning a photo of this young man who died so violently, lying in his open coffin -- I was just so upset that I did not bring my newspaper into my house.’

Emotional objections are raised whenever The Times publishes a photo of an open casket at a funeral service. This particular photo was part of the coverage that started with the March 2 fatal shooting of Shaw, who had been a good student and outstanding athlete. But readers might be surprised to know that in most cases the families often feel differently about showing such vivid scenes of sorrow.

(The photo runs at the bottom of this item.)

Deputy director of photography Steve Stroud oversees the selection of photos that run on the front page. Stroud says that when it comes to funerals, ‘The Times’ policy is to respect family wishes.’ In many cases those wishes coincide with The Times’ goal -- to reflect accurately and thoroughly what is happening in the community.

Staff photographer Barbara Davidson took the photo that ran on Page A1, as well as others at the services for Shaw. But she had met the family beforehand, in early March. That’s when Davidson was introduced to Jamiel’s mother, Anita Shaw, and other family members with whom she developed, as she puts it, a good rapport. When plans for the funeral were being made, ‘the family embraced us and wanted us to tell their story,’ said Davidson. ‘The family said the word needed to get out about what gang violence was doing to the community.’

The family limited the number of photographers at the service, but specifically asked Davidson to be one of those present at the open-casket funeral.

In a follow-up phone conversation, reader Green said part of her reaction might be that the story itself hit home too hard. Green would have found disturbing any photo of an open casket after such tragedy. But Green is an African American woman who has a high school son who is also an athlete with good grades, so she was particularly shaken by the photograph that was ‘so graphic, showing so much sadness.’