Photography that makes a difference

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I think the biggest problem in photography today is the exploitation of other people’s pain. The last thing this world needs is another picture of some poor African kid. Here in the Buduburam refugee camp people hate cameras. There have been too many photographers who have come with broken promises and left with a collection of sad photos. They go back home (paradise compared to the conditions here) publish the photos and make money off of them. They profit while the people here still live a meager life. This is called exploitation.

The strength of photography lies in its ability to evoke a sense of humanity. Just a simple glace at a photo can move a person’s heart. Photography has the unmatched ability of communicating the value of a human life. It cuts through stereotypes, prejudices, and even patriotism. It takes everything that does not matter away and shows us that yes we are all human. Personally I could care less about the imaginary borders we call countries. Nations rise and nations fall but people remain. The human spirit is far more concrete than any ideology or symbol smeared across a piece of fabric.

Photographers must realize the responsibility that rest on their shoulders. They must realize that the goal is not a good photography, but that the goal is to change lives with the aid of a good photograph. There is an epidemic of human rights abuses all over the world and I know that if everyone could go to these places and see with their own eyes the injustice and the grief then they would be changed forever; they would empathize with the pain of another human being and would give everything to see a change. But everyone cannot go there, that is why photographers must do there. They must put themselves in the middle of the situation and act as a mediator between the two sides: those who are in need and those who are able to help the needy. Once a photographer realizes this everything changes. When you see a child whose family has been murdered in Liberian 10 years ago and now lives a life begging, you do not just see a “good picture” and capture it. But your heart breaks for the child, and you would do anything to see their life changed for the better… but the only tool in your hands is a camera and that is what you must use to change their life.

I came to the Buduburam refugee camp for a story but I found reality; I found 17 years of un-medicated pain. In the Buduburam refugee camp there are many needs but I want to help where there is the biggest need. One thing that really touched my heart was the homeless children in the camp, the children who ended up in Ghana after fleeing Liberia in the second civil war. Most have no families at all and there only memories of their families are that of them being murdered in front of them. These are children… 4 years old, 10 years old… they have no money to pay for a good education, they barely make enough a day for food. They spend all day unloading bags at the bus stop or get hired on in town working the jobs that no one else wants to do. These are kids who do not have the luxury of a childhood because they must work for every penny they own. And we want to give that back to them. We are going to be feeding 600 homeless children 1 hot meal a day for the two weeks that we are there. We want to give them a free meal so that they do not have to work all day for the money for food. This gives them a break from a hard life and gives us a chance to play with them which gives them the chance to be kids again. We are employing some local women to help us cook the food everyday and if all goes well it is something that we would like to keep going for long term…. 52 tons of rice a year… 50,000 dollars a year.

The second time I was in the camp and met a girl who is going to die if she does not have surgery on her liver. It is an operation that only cost 600 dollars. 600 dollars? That’s a lot less than a life and I know that my parents would gladly pay that for me. The sad thing is that there are a lot of cases just like this one, of people who are unable to treat life threatening diseases because they have no money. This is a very immediate and huge problem but this is also a chance to help, a chance to give something back to this world; a chance to actually save someone’s life. I am not a doctor; I cannot perform surgeries for free. But as a photographer I can go and spend time with these people and understand their story and communicate it in such a simple and beautiful way that it strikes the hearts of people. I can stand up and fight for these people; I can enlarge their cries so that they are echoed all over the world.

It is so simple but so beautiful. I take a portrait that captures the essence of this person. I sale the portrait for the price of the surgery and I transfer the money to the hospital and a persons life is saved. I want to give that responsibility to someone else, I want to give someone a chance to save another persons life. I want to give 100% back to these people. I do not want to make a dime off of these peoples pain. I am on a mission to save 10, 20, 30 people’s lives.
So my goal here is not to get good pictures, but to communicate a great need through the medium of photography.

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