I went to see The Press Photographer's Year 2009 exhibition last week. It was an amazing collection of photographs that have been taken over the past year and then published in newspapers & magazines around the world. While they are typically presented to us in a small printed format the true detail is so much more compelling when seen in a larger size under lighting. It is then that you see the beauty of the moments that were captured some showing the finer details maybe of lines in a face, the joy of adventure, emotions of those suffering life and death right next to each other. Journalism is without doubt one of the strongest tools in our modern society but a written paragraph can be received by the reader in many ways, edited to mean a millions things which is one reason why I love photographic journalism as I find it has an unquestionable strength in image, it can literally say a thousand words and is rarely doubted.
In recent weeks I have been looking at The Boston Globes 'Big Picture' website, it has some of the most amazing photo journalistic images. It is impossible to be everywhere in the world at the same time, to be watching every global event as it happens, so to be able to see some of it through the lens of a photographer is amazing. Seeing their photographs opens up different worlds to us, taking us outside our comfort zones, it is engaging and such a great thing for us to have access to.
Recent fires in California, Los Angeles have had a devastating effect of the lives of the people that live there. Through the TV news reports I now have an understanding of the impact that these fires were having, but other than stating facts the TV news did little to show me the true emotional devastation that was happening. It wasn't until I saw these photos Wildfires in Southern Californiathat I really understood the sense of helplessness that people were feeling as their homes were being destroyed, how devastating these ravaging fires were to the landscape of the towns, how close the fires actually came to the people and what it must be like for a firefighter to walk towards these towering infernos to trying and bring them under control.
At the same time around the other side of the world voting had begun in Afghanistan and on the same website they showed such mesmerizing images which were captured during one of the most highly charged and emotional times in the countries recent history Ballots, bullets and bombs in Afghanistan. To capture these moments as they happened is a skill, to show what it's like to be there to get inside the lives of those voting, in the homes of those fighting and to get a sense of the fight for a democratic right to vote that people were prepared to risk their life to achieve is masterful. Photographs show so much of the human impact created by war and also in a way that the news on TV just can't, it is that split second freeze frame that captures the true emotion. I have an increasing admiration for photographic journalists, I am realising more and more that the photographers put themselves in increasingly dangerous situations, leave family and loved ones to head to foreign worlds, feeling threatened and scared, feeling drained of emotion after seeing so much devastation. I am however so grateful of the sacrifice they make so they are able to capture these images which are so important in helping to spread the news of events happening around the world and to make these captured moments available globally for all of us to see and to understand. They are as powerful as a man who holds a gun, as the politician making a speech, as nature unleashing it's might and as citizens fighting for freedom.
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