One of the saddest things about my life so far is the fact that I didn't know anything about Sebastiao Salgado before attending college. Even worse is my relative little knowledge of the plight of refugees around the world. My eyes were opened when I was first shown some work by Salgado, a traveling photographer with a mission, and I feel I have changed from it. If you haven't heard of or seen his work, I highly recommend you get out of here right now, go to your favorite search engine, and look this man up right away. Once you've finished that, come back and we'll talk.
For the rest of this semester I am going to be writing multiple blog posts about Salgado's inspiring work. To start, today I will be talking about one photo in particular. This image is a black and white representation of refugees in Zaire in 1994. The first thing I saw from this photo were the eyes, the eyes of those who have nothing to loose. It made me reconsider the way I judge my life. The text along with the photo explained what those people went through to get their water. I have never felt worse in my life. I complain when there's no more hot water in the shower. They walk for miles just to get water. This is not the first time I have seen the plight of others, but it is the first time it has hit me this hard. I owe it to the skill of Salgado. He has spent years of his life and career on exposing these issues around the world. The least we can do is listen. http://www.pdngallery.com/legends/legends10/
From Salgado's book MIGRATIONS: Humanity in Transition
I feel the same way! This book as had an effect on me that I have never had before.
ReplyDeleteWater is something we usually take for granted. We generally forget that is necessary for survival. We need to be more grateful for the opportunities that we have. Not just the opportunities for education and jobs, but for survival. In this country we have the opportunity to get water at our will. Sometimes we forget that.