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Re: [OM] Too good to photograph (was " Oben (OT / Flame," etc.)

Subject: Re: [OM] Too good to photograph (was " Oben (OT / Flame," etc.)
From: Henrik Dahl <hdahl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 18:45:20 +0200
After they were treated and taken to the hospital I still had an hour to
drive, alone except for my thoughts of what I had just experienced. I
started to question my decision of not taking any pictures, thought it
over every which way I could and came to the conclusion that I did the
right thing. I'm sure I could have captured some gut renching emotional
images that morning but something wouldn't let me. Guess I'll never make
it as a photojournalist.

later,
mike m.


I think you did the right thing too, but that's always a moral dilemma. When I travel in poor countries like India or violent countries like Colombia, there are always tons of shots I simply can't make myself take. Shots that surely would have a definite value illustrating the madness of this world, for high and low - rich and poor. On the other hand I feel so pornographic, like I'm profiting on someones life who is just a poor victim of the human way of living. After a few weeks on the road I often get a little more brave/ruthless, but 800f the shots will still be of nicelooking but "secure" trivialities - mountains, flowers, houses.

I visited an exhibition here in Stockholm by Jens Assur, a swede (or dane?) who really goes where it's "happening." He photographs the last dying eye of a young girl blown into pieces by mines in Sudan, or the utter humiliation of kids living in the streets, or old men blinded by gas in some camp. Terrifying pictures made into art. It makes you think of your own voyaristic behavior re the worlds suffering, and how to become a better member of the society - and in that way he really succeds. But *I* would never be able to take those pictures, I'd faint first.

I think this is always an interesting discussion since my work is theatre. What is legimate to show on a stage, in a photo-exhibition etc? Are there any limits if you want to make people think and react?

Henrik Dahl
Stockholm, Sweden



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