This AP photo (uncredited) taken during the fire at Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh last week, (Feb 2019), reminded me of Joel Sternfeld's photograph taken back in the seventies. Unlike the many other photos of this fire that appeared online which concentrated on the blazing hillside itself, the alternative composition throws attention elsewhere. The effect seems to be to suggest that even when disasters strike close to us, most of the time people are largely peripheral to the drama and remain in the bubble of our own universe.
