pictures and progress
my brain loves connections. especially the kind i could never come up with on my own! i am compelled to tell you what i learned this week and, more importantly, how the sequence of events came together.
i was reading in "the rise: creativity, the gift of failure and the search for mastery" by sarah lewis. in the chapter about beauty, error and justice, she described frederick douglass and his efforts to abolish slavery. along with abraham lincoln during civil war times, douglass sought justice. rather than employ more violence, douglass believed in the power of an image to speak to people. he elaborated on this idea in his 1863 speech "pictures and progress", saying that man is essentially the only picture-making creature and that artists, poets and reformers can use pictures to show what is in light of what ought to be, therefore inspiring people to bridge the gap between the two. his examples were overcrowded slave ships and actual slaves, giving them names and faces. lewis went on to talk about what happens to us when we are transfixed by such an image.
later in the evening, this very thing happened to me! while online, i chanced to come across an image related to the work of photographer brian sokol entitled "the most important thing". sokol has photographed modern-day refugees holding their most treasured item. one woman's face imprinted on my mind and i sat tansfixed--as i had read about earlier in the day--by this image.
it is of 22 year-old dowla barik, a refugee from south sudan pictured with two of her six children. her shoulder basket is her most important thing because it enabled her to carry all of her children in rotation when they became too tired to walk on their own. she carried them two at a time in such a way for ten days.
it reminded me of another poignantly symbolic image: that of lady justice. even though being forced to leave her home is unjust in the extreme, i see in dowla's posture and countenance a certain kind of strength and peace; happiness even at being able to save her children. the child to her right looks up at her adoringly, while the other gazes into the camera.
i couldn't help but wonder what else the refugees behind the photos were thinking. what if i had been born in dowla's place and she in mine? what do you see in her face and how else might we use the power of pictures for common good?
i was reading in "the rise: creativity, the gift of failure and the search for mastery" by sarah lewis. in the chapter about beauty, error and justice, she described frederick douglass and his efforts to abolish slavery. along with abraham lincoln during civil war times, douglass sought justice. rather than employ more violence, douglass believed in the power of an image to speak to people. he elaborated on this idea in his 1863 speech "pictures and progress", saying that man is essentially the only picture-making creature and that artists, poets and reformers can use pictures to show what is in light of what ought to be, therefore inspiring people to bridge the gap between the two. his examples were overcrowded slave ships and actual slaves, giving them names and faces. lewis went on to talk about what happens to us when we are transfixed by such an image.
later in the evening, this very thing happened to me! while online, i chanced to come across an image related to the work of photographer brian sokol entitled "the most important thing". sokol has photographed modern-day refugees holding their most treasured item. one woman's face imprinted on my mind and i sat tansfixed--as i had read about earlier in the day--by this image.
it reminded me of another poignantly symbolic image: that of lady justice. even though being forced to leave her home is unjust in the extreme, i see in dowla's posture and countenance a certain kind of strength and peace; happiness even at being able to save her children. the child to her right looks up at her adoringly, while the other gazes into the camera. i couldn't help but wonder what else the refugees behind the photos were thinking. what if i had been born in dowla's place and she in mine? what do you see in her face and how else might we use the power of pictures for common good?
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