Alison Wright's Influence On War

“The media often focus on the trauma people suffer, forgetting to tell us about their ability to recover and the humanity that remains intact” (Ishmael Beah). The quote of Ishmael Beah was used to describe Mariatu Kamara’s autobiography called The Bite of the Mango. Kamara’s story shows people the horrible events she lived through and how perseverance and optimism is essential for survival. If it hadn’t been for Kamara’s unbreakable will, she would have died when the rebels first came to her village, captured her, and cut her hands off. Despite the loss of her hands, Mariatu Kamara inspired others with her strength to continue living through her childhood and later in life became an activist and humanitarian.

To begin with, Lange helped perceive the poor living conditions of the 1900’s through her photo of the migrant mother and three children. For instance, Lange with her photo of the migrant mother helped raise awareness, for the federal government gave the pea pickers camp, where the migrant mother had been distinguished, “twenty thousand pounds of food”. (Starr 48) The photo of the unfortunate pea pickers helped people realize how hopeless they really were. This creating a willingness to help. Showing Lange's photography ability to create empathy through a simple photo. In addition, the mother was so desperate for help that when the picture was taking place, “there she sat in the lean-to-tent” motionless. (Starr 47) The migrant mother was so

In Jennifer Baichwal’s The True Meaning of Picture, she focused on the subject of American photographer Shelby Lee Adams’ works. Adams’ pieces emphasize the culture people in poverty from the Appalachian Mountains. Baichwal also spends some time focusing on the controversy of the photographer’s images. The documentary shows direct quotes from Adams himself, the subjects of his pictures, the subjects’ family, and even art critiques. The film collides the views of all these people so that we may learn more about the Appalachian people. Throughout the course of the documentary, the

The mother in the photograph catches the viewer’s eye at first glance, straight in center view with Lange’s lens. Due to the subject focus, the mother and her children, it is safe to declare that the mother knew the photograph was being taken although her eyes linger away from where Lange would be standing. With her children hiding behind her, looking down, the viewer is forced to look at their filthy hair and disheveled appearances. By not giving Lange or her lens their direct attention it forces those viewing the image to look at the subjects themselves and not make eye contact with them. By doing so it is easier to notice the stressed lines on the mothers face, the torn and grimy apparel hanging off of each person and the dirt covering the only visible child’s face, the baby in her

Similarily examined in GBTWYCF, the participant’s genuine “refugee experience” allows them to identify social understanding about the fact of other people’s lifestyles and how they withstand the most severe of individual adversities. An extensive structure taken of Raye weeping followed by a remote taken of the moon enhances her concern towards Maisara “I’ve had issues holding child birth through…I do know where she’s arriving from…” examines how by your same circumstances as others, people are able to empathise.

Since the start of the Sierra Leonean war in March of 1991, innocent civilians have been the primary target of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF)’s wrath. The people of Sierra Leone have faced significant problems due to the invasions and attacks by the Rebel Forces and are the main population that is being affected by this group’s disapproval of the government. One person who experienced profound changes in her life due to the start of this war is Mariatu Kamara, a victim of a Rebel attack that cost her both her childhood and her hands. Throughout her memoir, “The Bite of the Mango,” she is faced with numerous traumatic events and meets an abundance of people who were very significant in her life and some of whom helped her survive the war. Kamara also gives the reader a variety of themes to use as a foundation to understanding war life, which also serve to help readers learn more about life, grow as people, and rise above to help others in need. Mariatu Kamara has not only changed the lives of people all throughout Sierra Leone by giving them a voice and an outlet to share their experiences, but has also proved to be an inspiration for countless amputees around the world.

Curtis begins this article by describing how Lange was a little different from traditional documentary photographers. Tradition was honesty, directness, and a lack of manipulation. Lange and other influential photographers like Walker Evans, knew that they had to document life with a purpose but in order to really convey their message they had to include artistic elements. Aesthetic was an important part of her work, she wanted her photos to have an artistic value which could help capture the universal struggle of those living in poverty. In order to do this she had to do many different shots with different angles, different positions of the subjects, and sometimes including or excluding certain sitters. For example the teenage daughter of the family was excluded in some of the photos because it presented awkward questions. According to Curtis, “While middle-class viewers were sympathetically disposed to the needs of impoverished

Staring into the eyes of a photographed teenager who lost both hands to rebel’s machetes at the Waterloo Camp in Sierra Leone I felt a surge of mixed emotions: pain, compassion, anger, discontent and the need for a more effective campaign against “conflict diamonds.”

Before starting this project, I knew very little about photography, photographers, or exactly how much impact photographical images have had on our society. I have never taken a photography class, or researched too in depth about specific pictures or photographers. This project has allowed me to delve deeper into the world of photography in order to understand just how much influence pictures can have over society’s beliefs, emotions, and understandings’. I have have chosen two highly influential photographers, Diane Arbus and Dorothea Lange, who I have found to both resonate with me and perfectly capture human emotions in way that moves others.

In the essay “Award-Winning Photo Puts Subjects on Defensive” by freelance journalist Gert Van Langendonck discusses a photograph that was initially misinterpreted by the photographer, and the world. The photo, taken by war photographer Spencer Platt, won the 2006 World Press Photo of the Year award, after the photo was published by Parris Match in September of 2006. The photo was taken on August 15th, only two days after the ceasefire of what is known as the 2006 Lebanon War. Van Langendonck discusses Platt’s thoughts leading up to the photo, as he was attempting to photograph the southern suburbs of Beirut, which had endured the brunt of Israel’s bombing, and document the various relief efforts along with the diverse refugee populations.

These photographs to us are just random people but how Allison describes the photos is where we form an emotional connection.

Just Advocacy,​extols of the “intimate connection between representation and policy in human rights activism.” The 1985 National Geographic cover pictures an anonymous Afghan girl with hauntingly, seemingly traumatized, green eyes. Hesford and Kozol examine how the “neutral background exoticizes the girl by isolating her from the myriad cultural, political, and social context of her life” in a manner compliant with nineteenth century ethnographic photography. This highly publicized cover has come to represent the “plight of Afghan women and refugees worldwide.” However, Hesford and Kozol analyze the problematic nature of the politics of such a representation, believing the image has transformed into “an exoticized ‘Other’ onto whom the discourse of international human rights has been placed.”

Today female photojournalists have come a long way, yet they still represent only a third of all active photographers in the field (Willnat and Weaver 2014). Yet the ability of a photographer still remains the same, if you have the mettle and can truly hack it, you deserve to be on the battlefield. Unlike WWII though, many of todays combat zones are in places where women are truly repressed, places where laws and customs separate the sexes. These are battles Chapelle had to face in her own country, against a system set up against her. But due to her efforts she paved the way and busted down doors allowing women today to walk through. Because of this fact, female photographers, who have now achieved nearly equal status in the field, are able

Sally Mann’s style incorporates black and white photographs of her children, which are presented with “ordinary moments of childhood, suspended in time and transformed into aesthetic objects, takes on a distorted, even uncanny quality” (Arnason and Mansfield 719). Sally Mann photographed The New Mothers in 1989. This photograph’s most dominant elements are value and space. Having the photographs black and white really enhances the visibility of values. Most of Mann’s work is outside and has a define depth of field to blur out the background and emphasize the focus of the children. This compositional style helps to identify the high and low key values within the photos. The clothes, the reflection of the sun on the girls’ hair, and the girls fair skin are the part of the image that show high-key values, while the rest of the photo in more middle and low-key values. The intense depth of field increases a feeling of space for the viewer. In the photo you can see that the two young girls and their stroller is all in a line horizontally. Behind the girls you can notice they are outside in a open area because of the blurred grass and trees behind them. This photograph’s most dominant principles are movement and variety. The depth of field and lack of distraction in the background of the photo allows your eye to focus and move around with the subjects in the photo. The height of the subjects forms a triangle shape, which is

Set against the backdrop of World War II and its aftermath, the episode examines how photographers dealt with dramatic and tragic events like D-Day, the Holocaust and Hiroshima, and the questions their often extraordinary pictures raise about history as seen