Worth a Thousand….?
Here’s a link to some award winning photos of pollution in China. Some of you may be thinking, “Ok, Miles. We understand! Pollution in China is a problem. Move on.” But this is exactly the problem we face. The world’s most endemic problems– hunger, poverty, disease– are often the hardest to report. What is actually new news when nothing seems to change?
Making the significant interesting is a tremendous challenge. Images help. For all the words in the dictionary, sometimes people must see exactly what is happening to be moved. Think of Kevin Carter’s photo of the little girl and the waiting vulture. Think of the photos of dead US soldiers. When people see these images, they are shaken, shocked. They are appalled. They are forced to consider the conditions of our existence.
You have the power to create dialogue, to bring issues to the forefront of society, to blaze forward against the stubborn opposition to change. It’s not an easy task, but it is an exciting and a fulfilling one.
4 Comments »
Filed under: China in the News
November 2nd, 2009 at 11:21 am
Yes，photos are a better approach to deliver your message. I have been reading plenty news about pollution and people getting relative diseases for several years. They made me really worried and sad at that time ,but then I just get used to the reporting and became indifferent as time goes by. Lu Guang’s photos gave me a big shock at the first sight ,and brought me into a long contemplation. I realized that those miserable stories about people suffering from contaminated environment are going on whether you’ve read them or not, or got shocked or not. That is the fact. I feel sorry to say I’m sorry and just don’t know what to do to improve their plight. Miles, you suppose we “ have the power to create dialogue, to bring issues to the forefront of society, blaze forward against the stubborn opposition to change.” I agree with you up to a point , but I can’t help wondering -will that help? Is this the key to the problem when people criticized and keep criticizing but things just getting worse and worse without looking at those photos or articles? Or it’s because the level is not enough?
October 27th, 2009 at 9:06 pm
Honestly i feel unconfortable seeing those kids with distorted arms and legs ,but this uncomfortableness makes me shocked.And the uncomfortableness is eaxactly what we needed right now to be shoched and aware of the issues that have been already really severe.I think we are just too comfortable living in our “sugar”life so that we naively believe everything around us is just fine to accept and we forget the problems or we rarely know the problems.But truth is that the earth is being eroded into place that is not comfortable anymore .
October 27th, 2009 at 10:42 am
yeah ,sometimes the power of images or photos is stronger than words.
as a photographer of a journalist, the strength of an individual is limited. but just like what Luguang did,we can record the reality to make people aware of that and eventually take actions to change it .
October 26th, 2009 at 11:46 am
I agree with the point in this article.
This is a picture-reading era.you will not be care about something around you take it for granted,but you will concentrate on something recorded in the picture(or image).I don’t know why about this phenomenon.
Also,I’m so confused about the work done by the press-photographer,just like Kavin Cater’s image photoed in Africa,it is said to be a ethics dilemma in journalism,I’m not sure how to make the decision in the situation of Kavin Cater.
Should a journalist help the person who just suffer something painful first or just take the record first?I’m not sure till now.