Visual Peacemaking

 In every photograph, there is an implied comparison. Here to there, then to now, and especially in travel blogs: us to them.

            Howard Zehr, a founder of the Restorative Justice movement and self proclaimed “photographer at the healing edge” wrote in a blog post that “social distance allows us to objectify people, and then we can do all sorts of horrible things to them.”  (See the blog post here http://visualpeacemakers.org/index.php?/blog/entry/photography_at_the_healing_edge/ )
          
In traveling, especially for short lengths of time (anything less than a few months, really), the tendency is for outlandish visual experiences, stuff totally outside my normal range, to jump out and demand to be photographed. When I take these pictures and then post them to my blog and frame them as representations of a particular culture or set of circumstances, I walk a fine line between commenting on the visually striking, and building a wall between myself and what/whom I have photographed.
          
Photography can be used to communicate between people and cultures, but it can also be used to alienate one from another.

            For me, whether or not to photograph the butchering of a goat in my Nepali household was a dilemma. On one hand, it was a unique and visually striking experience for me. There was bright blood, a front yard decapitation and later fried eyeballs to snack on. It was utterly alien to me, and that made it interesting. However, in thinking about the imagery, I realized that not only would it shock some viewers, it would be taken completely out of context on my blog. It would look like a ritual animal sacrifice (which it was), but would be presented without the rich and long cultural heritage and family traditions that have led my host father, who spends workdays at desks and on phones, to be an adept and respectful butcher.

The reason I watched at all was because, eater-of-meat that I am, I was tired of the distance from the butchery process that is built into the American meat distribution/consumption system. I eat meat. I wanted to get real about where it comes from.

            So I didn’t take any pictures, and my itchy shutter finger had to deal with that.

Especially in the developing world, I have many opportunities to take photographs that would increase social distance between the cultures I’m trying to connect. A lot of the photographs would be emotionally impactful and aesthetically ‘good,’ but is their value lost if they alienate me from the people in either culture?

I am going to try to stop “othering” the cultures that I visit. I would rather use my photos in the diminishment of social distance and the promotion of that greatest glue of societies: empathy.

For more resources on the topics of othering and social distance, specifically regarding written and photographic journalism, visit Howard Zehr's Restorative Justice Blog ( http://emu.edu/blog/restorative-justice/2010/08/30/photography-at-the-healing-edge/ )   and the International Guild for Visual Peacemakers ( http://visualpeacemakers.org/index.php?/blog/entry/photography_at_the_healing_edge/ )

P.S. I am aware of the cumbersomeness of using actual URLs rather than just making words in the post into links. Maybe when Google's wonderful "blogger" tools get less stupid, or the internet connection I'm on rises above a whisper of a dream of bandwidth..I'll fix the links.