- #PICTURES WITH A DEEPER MEANING PATCH#
- #PICTURES WITH A DEEPER MEANING PROFESSIONAL#
- #PICTURES WITH A DEEPER MEANING FREE#
After the last frame, we all just beamed at each other.
#PICTURES WITH A DEEPER MEANING PROFESSIONAL#
I once presented a photo story in China in silence to a professional photography group where the audience smiled, laughed, and fell quiet in all the right places - without a word in Mandarin or English. A successful photo story, when well-authored and edited, is universally understood. When I discovered and later understood photographic visual language, I saw that this language could inform, educate and move audiences worldwide without the need for a shared spoken language. Why is photography important? Photography speaks. MaryAnne Golon, Director of Photography, Washington Post From both vantage points, I’ve learned how personally cathartic and validating it can be to share injustices suffered with a global community. For example, not long ago I was a story’s subject when my mother lost her life to medical malpractice in Florida hospitals and, of course, I’ve been behind the camera interviewing hundreds of girls during my 15-year Too Young to Wed project. I’ve seen that from both sides of stories. And beyond the big-picture role of journalism, it can also be a revelation at the personal level. I still believe in the power of journalism and photojournalism to spark positive change - in a world where the pursuit of self-interest is prioritized by so many, its role speaking truth to power when all other avenues fail is unparalleled. Not to mention the steeply declining pay for those of us who manage to eke out a living doing editorial work… But for me, it comes down to the people in my photographs. Why do we do it? I think we all ask ourselves this question, especially as the industry becomes ever more volatile, with colleagues losing their jobs, and even their lives, more often than many of us ever expected when we went into this profession.
#PICTURES WITH A DEEPER MEANING FREE#
Now that the image has become devalued as a truth-revealing mechanism, it is free to own its subjectivity and becomes an ideal medium to navigate ideas around humanity, connection, identity, memory, presence, experience and intimacy. Then it became this portal to and catalyst for reckoning with the other and how the camera can be used to breaking down barriers between the photographer, subject and viewer. I can think of no greater honor nor privilege than to have lived a life surrounded by images and the amazing individuals who create them and share them with us.įor me it began with this fear of myself as a hermit and a search for a tool that would put me in a position to have to be out engaging with the world everyday. Photographers are the dedicated, passionate and sometimes half-crazy individuals who are willing to give their lives, too often quite literally, to show us what needs to be seen, what needs to be known.
Photography is the universal language that speaks to the heart. They can also change behavior, stimulate understanding and create a sense of urgency that will move people to action. Images can keep the memory of a loved one alive, hold a moment in history for future generations, be a witness to tragedy or joy. In a deeply personal way I feel an image is a poem about time, about “staying the moment.” Photography can defeat time. It has been the way that I have experienced much of the world. I have spent my entire professional life creating, editing, critiquing or teaching photography and working with photographers. Sarah Leen, Director of Photography, National Geographic It is my way of saying this is another way of seeing me. Every picture I take asks the questions, “Who am I and what is my role here on this earth?” It is my way of seeing. My photography is first and foremost a catalyst or reason to motive human action. I wish that every image I photograph reexamines and redefines the image of the black man, the black woman, and the black child. How does one define what a “cause” is? According to Webster, it is “a person or thing that acts, happens, or exists in such a way that some specific thing happens as a result the producer of an effect.” I shoot because I find peace in being especially active, and being a vigorous advocate for a cause. I shoot because if I don’t, I don’t know who will. Photographers teach us to look again, look harder. When they direct our eyes and hearts with precision and honesty, we know what we know differently and better.
#PICTURES WITH A DEEPER MEANING PATCH#
They call our attention to the things we miss in our everyday lives and they call our attention to events and people at a great distance from our own patch of the universe.
They are the witnesses and artists who can distill the mayhem and beauty that surrounds us. They are the ones who sort all the chaos of the world into images that bring clarity to the free-for-all of life. It is for this reason that we need photographers.
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