Seven most important reasons why a good photograph matters
We all see images everyday, many of these photos. Thousands and thousands of images.
And we instinctively ‘know’ what makes a good image, but explaining it is not always that easy. Listening to three Magnam photographers visiting Sydney this months for the Head On photo festival was instructive. Here are a list of the most important reasons Shahidul Alam, Eli Reed and Chris Steele-Perkins gave from their talks and interviews at Head On. Worth reflecting on…
1. People in the villages do not exist. News is not about them, not for them. People in problems of a massive scale will exist as numbers, not individuals. (Alam)
2. The power of an image…Those are the stories that often don’t get told. It is challenging the sources of power. (Alam)
3. Photography changes the world. Things we can do at a personal, finite level that make a difference. Those small, tactile, little steps…it certainly made a difference to me. (Alam)
4. Everything changes the world at one point. It is an aggregate thing….Grains of sand on the right side of the justice scale. (Steele-Perkins)
5. Photography for me has been this fantastic passport to the world. (Steele-Perkins)
6. Some people say photography doesn’t work. Screw that. It does work. I have seen the difference it makes…Photographs can change the world. Just think of the Holocaust. (Reed)
7. This list won’t be the same without your contribution too. I saved the last word for you. Leave your reason below on a comment, or at Facebook or Twitter, and I will update this post.
Building Bridges 