I have just been reading - or perhaps rather viewing - a book by Paolo Pellegrin (Magnum Photos) and journalist Scott Anderson. They were in Lebanon during the recent conflict, on assignment for The New York Times. Pellegrin’s photographs "intimately capture the fear and powerlessness of the Lebanese population in the face of the ceaseless Israeli air strikes, revealing the terror and despair of families and friends witnessing the deaths of their loved ones, whilst around them their homes were destroyed."It's a very powerful book and a good antidote to the numbness that comes with over exposure to 24 hour TV news ! Better surely to have one or two good images and a few words so we can feel, and respond with prayer and or action.
Further to my previous post I read in Wikipedia that Susan Sontag argued that photography is a way of consuming the world. She says in On Photography : ‘The method especially appeals to people handicapped by a ruthless work ethic – Germans, Japanese and Americans. Using a camera appeases the anxiety which the work driven feel about not working when they are on vacation and supposed to be having fun. They have something to do that is like a friendly imitation of work: they can take pictures’.
I think she has a point. Yet these photos show human solidarity and compassion. That's good photography.
1 comments:
There are cultures who believed that a photograph was stealing the soul but I share your discomfort taking photos of people.
The challenge is not always taking the photo but what you do with it. Who is it for? Who will see it and how will they deal with what they see? It is the same as words - we say or write something but how is it understood? How will others respond? It is the interaction that I think is important.
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