Travel & Humanitarian Photos
The Boston Globe’s Big Picture web site has rapidly become a popular resource for anyone interested in photojournalism. They’ve just published a series of photos taken by Reuters photographer Finbarr O’Reilly from the Congo.
The situation in the Congo continues to deteriorate as the army, the UN and rebel forces move rapidly towards melt-down in what is already a five year-old conflict. The BBC news web site suggests that the Congo has “immense economic resources” and yet with pressure from surrounding Angola, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Rwanda the conflict shows no signs of abating. Clearly, there’s not much chance for the people in O’Reilly’s photographs to benefit from their homeland’s economic resources anytime soon.
I sometimes think that I might be able to work as a photojournalist but then I see pictures like this and realise that there’s simply no way I could photograph this kind of pointless suffering and remain sane.
And, to make another point, when was the last time you saw any reports from this conflict on your TV news? Even the BBC seems to be increasingly concerned with fluff and nonsense. I have sympathy for Jade Goody, for example, but, seriously, is it really more important for us to know what she wore to her wedding than it is to know what’s happening in the Congo and other places currently embroiled in conflict? And, whilst I’m on that particular soap-box, when UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown feels that it’s appropriate to use the office of the Prime Minister to offer comment on Goody rather than to discuss what some of us might consider to be more pressing matters then I for one begin to question the man’s priorities.
Check out O’Reilly’s photos on the Boston Globe’s Big Picture.
A war-orphaned child at the Kizito orphanage in Bunia, northeastern Congo. (© REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly)
Whilst I agree that there should be more coverage of the terrible state of affairs in Congo I also think there’s a positive side to the the publicity over Jade Goody’s cancer.
But for this gobby-Z-list celeb visibly dying in front of us I know that my needle-phobic eldest would not have arranged on her own to have the course of vaccinations against this terrible disease or for her younger sister to be glad to follow. They’re not alone, teenage girls who otherwise would have stuck fast to their usual belief that they’re far too young for anything like this to affect them realise that it can and that there are things they can do to help avoid or prevent it.
As for Gordon Brown, sadly I think he’s so desperate to retain some popularity he’d do just about anything. A few weeks away from his advisers in the Congo or any of the world’s other trouble-spots might get things back into perspective for him but that’s not going to happen is it? Things are not good.
A haunting photo though, thanks for showing it, sorry for my bit of a rant.
I was watching a genocide documentary by Christiane Amanpour yesterday and it was really disturbing to learn that some of the international organizations and super powers, who are supposed to be preventing these or have the ability to stop them at its earlier stages, took so long to take actions. Bureaucratic red tape, political maneuvering and worst of all, lack of interest resulted to massive losses of lives!
If only people care….it would make a huge difference!
Thanks for pointing out the silver lining Nic and ranting is always encouraged. It had never occurred to me that there might be some kind of positive spin-off to the media coverage of Jade Goody. Perhaps OK or Heat or whichever magazine it was that has reportedly earned over £4 million from increased circulation with Jade Goody’s wedding photos will donate 50% of that windfall to promoting awareness to teenage girls. Now wouldn’t that be a result.
Hi Gavin, I am doing a charity run and I would like to raise money for the saint Kizito orphanage in Bunia. I cannot find details of where to send the money,can you please help?
Many thanks
Martha
Hi Martha, sorry I don’t have any more information about the orphanage but if I come across any I’ll certainly let you know. Best of luck with the charity run, an excellent cause.
You only need watch James Nachtwey’s movie documentary ‘War Photographer’ to realise that the magazines and television firms currently have no demand for hard hitting stories such as this.
The public are more concerned about which shade of lipstick the latest ‘D’ list celebrity is wearing rather than Congo/Sudan/Burma.
Tragic.