I've often wondered whether photographs
from conflict zones really make a difference. There are of course the
ones that have become icons such as Nick Ut's photo of Kim Phuc –
and been attributed a significance that back then they probably did
not have. Well, who knows? What we do however know is that the
military is afraid of pictures (and that means: feelings, emotions,
sensations) for they cannot control them.
I haven't been to Afghanistan and never
had any desire to go there. I'm still not sure whether I would like
to visit the place despite the fact that the images I now carry
around in my head fill me with warm feelings for the Afghans
portrayed. Paula Bronstein's photographs convey the impression that
she is fond of, and touched by, the people she decided to photograph.
Photographs are meant to direct
people's eyes. Paula Bornstein shows us what she wanted us not only
to see but to look at. We need to confront the reality in Afghanistan
not only because the policy makers in the West are partly responsible
for contributing to, and being a part of, it but because what is
happening there is a human made tragedy. What human beings have
decided to begin, they can also decide to stop.
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