re: ethics and taste and what we can do
re: ethics and taste and what we can do
since this thread
is about moral and ethical considerations in photography...
i have wrestled
time and time again with the dilemma of making/taking, posting and/or publishing images that depict personal suffering.
i am not a working journalist, although i have been at different times in my life.
i went to beslan, russia in september 2004 five weeks after the terrorist siege, attack and massacre there at middle school number one. my reason for going was to deliver a community relief effort.
that trip changed my life forever.
while i was there i had the opportunity to photograph some of the survivors during interviews being done lynn lansford,
a wonderful person who had also started a relief effort. we joined forces back home and travelled together from texas. the people i photographed gave me permission to do so and were so open, unguarded and trusting. as they related their experiences, the grief and suffering on their faces was almost too much for me to bear,
too personal and too private for me to intrude upon with a camera. still, i made those exposures for "the world" to see and connect with a person, not just statistic in another story in the news.
upon my first visit to the bullet-riddled, explosion-torn, burnt-out shell of the gymnasium at the school i faced addtional moral and ethical concerns. this was where approximately 1,200 children, teachers and family members were held hostage during the three day seige. this was where close to four hundred of the hostages died and almost the same number injured. while there i saw people placing flowers, bottled drinks, cards, letters, poems, drawings, photographs, and packaged food items upon memorials in the gymnasium. i couldn't bring myself to photograph them from a close distance. i made some exposures with them farther back in the frame because part of me believed that "the world" needed to see these also.
another instance occured when we visited the newly created section of the city cemetery. we had brought, by airplane and train, some 3,000 teddy bears and other stuffed animals to place on the graves of the victims. each one had a tag attached to it with the first name, age, and a message from it's sender. a group of junior and high school girls helped us set out each one. there were many, many survivor family members there that day. some were lovingly adding finnshing touches to the sites, bringing fresh flowers, and mourning their lost loved ones. some were crying softly and some were wailing and calling out the names of the dead. it was difficult enough to photograph a site where a photograph or photographs of the victims was attached to a cross or monument. i found it impossible to photograph the mourners, again, at a close distance, and made a few exposures with the mourners towards the back of the frame.
very recently a web site about the journey and continued efforts to do whatever can be done for beslan was created.
it is still under revision and not complete, please check back from time to time for updates. the soon-to-be non-profit organization being formed is called NEVER FORGET BESLAN. the web site came to life as a direct result of scott sexton (sexton consulting of austin,texas). he is a true angel for donating his time, energy, and skills as a web designer to help the people of beslan.
great guy,
big heart. the website address is:
www.neverforgetbeslan.com (i apologize for being such a tecno-klutz and not knowing how -yet- to create a link )
back to the issue at hand. out of my respect for those who died and concern for the survivors i still have qualms about some of the images posted in the "photographs" section on the web site. one of the main goals of NEVER FORGET BESLAN is to make sure that the tragedy that happened there is
never forgotten.
i believe some of the very images i have qualms about posting must be seen by the world to help achieve that goal. there are links to related sites with more graphic images in articles by various media agencies.
most of us have lost a loved one at some point in our lives and we remember them with fondness and a bit of sadness as well.
still, we remember them. they live on in our memory. the lives of those lost in beslan deserve to be remembered as well. they are not just names of strangers, people we never knew... they are a part of the family of the world - the family of mankind.
what happened in new york city, washington d.c. and in that pasture over pennsylvania on september 9, 2001 tore at hearts not only here in america, but throughout the world. memorial sites have been built and services have been held in many countries out of respect for our loss. i recall reading an article in "usa today" that the earliest condolences to the horrific events of 9-11 came first from former soviet union countries and the russian federation.
as i see life in my mid-fifties,
the more we care about the world, the better the chance we will care about our next door neighbor, our co-workers, the man at the news stand, the woman at the toll booth or the driver next to us in traffic. the more often that happens, the better the chance that person will do the same for someone else. when we put caring into action, that has got to be a step in the right direction as our world grows smaller and smaller. i understand that not every kindness or consideration is welcomed, acknowledged, warranted and often not returned in kind.
will it make everything in the world "right"?
no.
will it solve the myriad, complex social, political, economic, ecological, ethical and religious debates/battles/struggles going on around the world?
no.
i believe itt can give each of us a chance to make a difference in our world.
thank you for taking your time to read this post. thank you for bearing with me as i get some of this off of my chest.
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**
the seeds we plant today are the harvest of today's and tomorrow's children.**
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hasta la vista, adieu, daskorava, fino al prossimo tempo, auf wiedersehen, and
later y’all
kenneth lockerman
NEVER FORGET BESLAN
www.neverforgetbeslan.com
kenneth@neverforgetbeslan.com
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"...patience and shuffle the cards" miguel cervantes
"nothing can be learned" herman hesse
"everybody knows everything" jack kerouac
"some memories are realities and better than anything" willa cather
" doo-wacka doo, wacka doo" roger miller
"we have met the enemy and they is us !" walt kelly (pogo)
“a mans cartilage is his fate” phillip roth
