Having covered genocides, civil wars, conflicts between countries, natural disasters and the turmoil raging from one continent to another, what strikes the most in Grarup’s photographs are the absolutely horrendous conditions people have to survive in, especially those who have no saying in whatever is going on around them.
Jan Grarup’s photographs are the reminder of how quickly things can change from normal to chaotic, how peace can instantly transform into war, how unexpectedly life can be replaced by death. In his huge photo book, And Then There Was Silence – with 496 pages and weighing over five kilograms –, it is hard to make up one’s mind on which photograph is harder to look at, which is more heartbreaking, which is more inhuman. Tears come out on their own while realizing that somewhere in the world, men, women, and children suffer unconditionally with no ease to their agony.