Wandering Eyes: William Snyder's Siberia

Oct. 10 -- In a gesture of pure happiness, as well as surprise, a boy stood in a snowdrift in Siberia and cradled a perfect watermelon, the fruit becoming an extension of his belly. Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer William Snyder, glimpsing the scene, was elated.

And he took a picture. Snyder’s photo of the boy and his watermelon is indicative of much of the photojournalist’s work, capturing a quiet intensity and an entire story in what, at first glance, looks like a simple composition.

As the eye wanders around the photo’s central figure, a story unfolds — one of joy in a traditionally isolated land marked by poverty, rampant entrepreneurialism and Western corporate influence.

“My job is to go into a situation where I am a complete stranger and ask, ‘Can I follow you around and stick a camera in your face and get you to ignore me,’” Synder says. “That’s not always easy. It’s pretty difficult to not make people uncomfortable, and I am not even sure how I have developed my own way of coping with that.”