Photographs are Changing our World
Photographs have become the go to in our everyday life. Every second of the day you can open up Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snap chat to view everyone's daily activities, interests, travels, or simply what they are currently eating. These photos inspire us to take up a new hobby, go try the new restaurant that opened down the street, or even travel to a new place we never knew existed before until your friend posted an image on Instagram.
Not only are these platforms being used to document the good going on around us but also can be used to raise awareness to the parts of our community that are struggling or under attack. For instance we saw this happen in Ferguson, Missouri where police brutality was finally captured and spread like wildfire around the world. These officers are now going to be held accountable for their actions, this also sparked an increase in people taking photographs and filming police events. American law enforcement tried to stop this from happening and as was stated it created a "war on photography." If these photos and videos that citizen journalist were capturing and spreading couldn't change the world then why would law enforcement be so upset and try to stop it from happening? This is just the start of powerful entities trying to censor the images we see. Ted Rall's article on censorship further justifies my beliefs that photos do indeed change the world. He dives deep into the fact that "far more photos of dead US soldiers appeared in newspapers during the 1861-65 Civil War than have since 2001." I am sure if we saw dead body after another, of our own people on the newspaper every morning we would be more vigilant on the wars we decide to send our troops into or even the sheer number of citizens that decide to enlist in the military.
The Digital Journalist created 100 Photographs That Changed the World within the introduction it was stated that how could photos supersede words such as the Bible, and Torah and other religious text that have influenced people for centuries. This makes you think, can they really be as powerful, and after much contemplation I still believe so. A key part of this article being when a photo of Caden Zane Brown was submitted and the words to follow were "He's Changed our World." There is no denying that this photo of this beautiful baby embraced by its loved ones doesn't convey those feelings. As well it really truly is dependent of the "relationship between a viewer and the image" Knowing that the relationship between the viewer and the image are essential we can link when Professor Nordell states "An image can be worth a thousand words", maybe the image means only a few words to you but to me it could be everything. It could be worth as many powerful words from a passage out of the Bible would be to a Christian. Photos not only create emotions within us they spark actions. These actions that are fueled by these images are what change the world around us every day.
Photo by Francis Perez
In the photo above we see one of the world"s most beautiful creatures in my opinion, the sea turtle. I have been fascinated by animals my whole life and one of my first major projects in school was a tri-fold poster project on sea turtles. This image above is profound to my life because not only does it show the awful truth that we are polluting our environment and harming the unsuspected creatures who dwell there, it also has a deeper meaning to me. This turtle is in full action even though it"s still caught up in nets struggling to survive it keeps swimming onward. This photo serves in the back of my mind to be conscious of the decisions I make and how they will effect everything around me and to continue forward when I feel as if I am stuck in the net of life.
Photo by Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP
I am a strong believer that photos are changing the world, above is a photo of the White House on June 26, 2015 after the Supreme Court's ruling to legalize same-sex marriage. This image not only captures the victory for the millions of people in the U.S who now can breathe a tiny sigh of relief. It as well is a powerful image to show other countries and nations and give hope to those who live in those places who have yet to legalize same-sex marriage. For me this image brings me happiness and joy for all my family and friends who have lived a life of feeling unaccepted, shamed, and mistreated because of the person they chose to love. It is a photo that sparks the beginning of acceptance and a change that supports all relationships in love.
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