Magnum Hard Choices

That is an excellent essay. Thank you for linking it.
 
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yes, it is... sad to think that your own neighbors may be living the same life in a short order of time but they do not let on. We have a few in my own neighborhood that we are trying to help in some small way, like getting them help through our local congressional office.

BTW, the Labor Dept. just sent us, via the local c.o., the actual unemployment figures, nationally and it is not pretty... 15-18% including everyone without a job.

Here in Georgia, it is 10% the way it is reported but closer to 20% including everyone without a job.


Excerpt:

the Department of Labor has multiple ways to show the unemployment rate. The most common number , "U-3", does not include workers who have been out of work for 2 years or more and who are not "actively" searching for work. The various levels of unemployment (described below) are determined by sending surveys to thousands of households, then using a series of formulas to determine the statistics of unemployment. The different levels used to determine unemployment are as follows:

* U-1 Persons unemployed 15 weeks or longer, as a percent of the civilian labor force
* U-2 Job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs, as a percent of the civilian labor force
* U-3 Total unemployed, as a percent of the civilian labor force (official unemployment rate)
* U-4 Total unemployed plus discouraged workers, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus discouraged workers
* U-5 Total unemployed, plus discouraged workers, plus all other persons marginally attached to the labor force, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force
* U-6 Total unemployed, plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force

For February 2011 the different percentages for each category was as follows:
* U-1: 5.3%
* U-2: 5.4%
* U-3: 8.9%
* U-4: 9.5%
* U-5: 10.5%
* U-6: 15.9%

These numbers are published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) (http://www.bls.gov/home.htm) which is a subdivision of the Department of Labor, and can be found here: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm. To get to these numbers from the mail BLS website, click on http://www.bls.gov/home.htm, then on the middle-right hand side of the page, under "Latest Numbers" click "Unemployment Rate". On that page you will find the nation's unemployment numbers broken down into countless categories and subcategories. However the numbers cited above can be found on that page by clicking on "Table A-15. Alternative measures of labor underutilization".
 
dave lackey said:
Ummm...this is worth seeing. :eek:..............
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An excellent piece of documentary photography conveyed in a very effective format. But we have come to expect that of Larry Towell.

It is unfortunate that this thread, on a photo forum, immediately took a political turn. Hopefully it was initially presented for it's effective use of photography to convey a message rather than for political purposes.
 
Bob, I don't think it is unfortunate at all. Photographs can convey many messages on many, many levels. I believe it was the intent of the documentary to have political as well as humanitarian undertones.
 
Well, Magnum amazes me with their ability to offer quality photography about a variety of subjects. This thread was not posted to elicit political comments although as JR says...photography can change the world.

I found this photographic work significant in the message it conveyed along with the quality expected of Larry Towell. It can serve as an inspiration to all of us as to what we could aspire to accomplish with the simple use of a camera.:) Talk about inspiration!

It is a significant work and I thought it would be great to share it.

BTW there are a lot of other videos in the Magnum catalog. See for yourself as it is time well-spent.:cool:
 
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kbg32 said:
Bob, I don't think it is unfortunate at all. Photographs can convey many messages on many, many levels. I believe it was the intent of the documentary to have political as well as humanitarian undertones.
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Absolutely it was Larry Towell's intent to convey a political message. He did so very effectively.

However RFF is not a political discussion forum. We should discuss the manner and effectiveness in which the message was conveyed, not the merits of the message itself. The responses had nothing whatsoever to do with photography.
 
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Bob Michaels said:
Absolutely it was Larry Towell's intent to convey a political message. He did so very effectively.

However RFF is not a political discussion forum. We should discuss the manner and effectiveness in which the message was conveyed, not the merits of the message itself. The responses had nothing whatsoever to do with photography.
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So...the best way to keep it from becoming a political discussion is to now let it go.

Again, inspiration is where one finds it. :)
 
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dave lackey said:
Well, Magnum amazes me with their ability to offer quality photography about a variety of subjects. This thread was not posted to elicit political comments although as JR says...photography can change the world.

I found this photographic work significant in the message it conveyed along with the quality expected of Larry Towell. It can serve as an inspiration to all of us as to what we could aspire to accomplish with the simple use of a camera.:) Talk about inspiration!

It is a significant work and I thought it would be great to share it.

BTW there are a lot of other videos in the Magnum catalog. See for yourself as it is time well-spent.:cool:
Click to expand...

No question that the Magnum photographers are an inspiration in delivering messages by the use of photography. I had the opportunity to meet the head of special projects (i.e. no potential to receive any money) for Magnum last year. I can assure those folks spend a lot of their own money and time simply to deliver the messages they want to deliver.

I am a real fan of the "Magnum in Motion" methodology. I think I have seen just about every photo essay there, many of them multiple times.
 
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There are many places on the web where I can go for political discussion. I prefer to talk photography on this forum, however, photography does often have political implications and I'm willing to discuss those issues on their merits.
 
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Actually, though I wasn't going to bring in the political, I will speak to it, from a photographic perspective.

Can something like this change one's perception, or will it simply reinforce whatever political ideas one has beforehand? I mean, if you go in thinking there is a certain course of action which is best, can photographic work like this change your mind. If so, how?

Or, is it's best function to motivate people to do something, some concrete action?
 
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Bob Michaels said:
It is unfortunate that this thread, on a photo forum, immediately took a political turn. Hopefully it was initially presented for it's effective use of photography to convey a message rather than for political purposes.
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This is not merely a "photography" forum. It's a forum centered on a specific type of camera that, while it can be used for many purposes, is inextricably linked to reportage and social documentary.

That said, these are powerful photographs and deserve to be seen. I hope that everyone will look at them, and then perhaps take some time to think about them before offering an opinion. The work really does speak for itself here.
 
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yes kind of hard to discuss this essay while tiptoeing around some very obvious questions about America today. I dont know what else should we discuss, what lens it was shot with?
 
Well done short documentary with great still photography and video. It did its job, it carried a message and evoked an emotional response in the viewer (me).

I didn't see any politics, just people with definite needs who could use a hand.

As the director of the food bank stated, she can not help everyone, but she can make a difference in the lives of people who cross her path. No need to tiptoe around the issues in this country, just take action and don't expect anyone else to do it. Personal responsibility and accountability at the local level.

Dave, thanks for posting!

Life is Grand!

Dan
 
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Thanks for posting this link Dave. Reportage work like this prompts those with a social conscience, hopefully including policy makers, to question why these things happen and press for change to help those most in need and to try to avoid it continuing. By its very nature it's a social-political issue. I agree with Semilog there.

I'm sure the story could be repeated in small communities, particularly where there is a limited public safety net.

I thought the essay very well done. Thank you.
 
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