Photojournalism gives voice to the voiceless

Zimbabwean

Written by Sizani Weza

Thursday, 24 February 2011

Harare – The exhibition, ‘Giving a Voice to the Voiceless,’ featuring images by international award winning photojournalist Ed Kashi opened on Tuesday, February 22, at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe. (Pictured: Ambassador Ray with Minister Coltart) The exhibition, which runs until March 23, features striking images captured by Ed Kashi over a 30 year career doing assignments for magazines such as National Geographic all over world. Among the images is a Nigerian woman forced to bake her tapioca with the heat of a oil pipeline gas fire, a Vietnamese girl suffering from Agent Orange disabilities, and a Kurdish woman returning home to Kirkuk after 20 years of displacement.  The exhibit as a whole spans four continents including Africa, the Middle East, North America and Asia.

Guests at the launch of the exhibition, which is jointly-sponsored by the United States Embassy Public Affairs Section and the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, included diplomats, artists, and government and local government officials. Speakers hailed the role of photojournalism and concurred that whether uncovering human rights violations, confirming the devastating impact of war and conflict, or revealing corruption and environmental pollution, the camera provides a voice for the voiceless.

“While this exhibition presents us with a sampling of work from Mr. Kashi’s prolific career, it also stands as a tribute to the noble field of photojournalism; a tribute to those men and women who use their cameras to tell some of the world’s most compelling stories—to give a voice to the voiceless,” said Charles Ray, U.S. Ambassador.

“For the photojournalist, telling these stories oftentimes comes with great risk….And for all that risk, the photojournalist is given an incredible responsibility as they witness and experience the most personal, intimate and vulnerable moments of an individual’s life—moments that show indignity and incivility— photojournalist do their part to not only give these people a voice, but also to return to them their dignity and civility,” said the U.S. Ambassador.

Education, Culture, Sport and Art Minister David Coltart noted the important role images and film play in documenting the accurate history of any one country. “This exhibition is so important, because it sets a standard for us as a nation regarding what takes place elsewhere, and, importantly, it shows us that this can be a positive thing. It’s something we should not be frightened of,” said Minister Coltart.  Coltart said it was a tragedy that many of the significant events in Zimbabwe’s history have not been recorded on film or video.

With the exhibition, Giving Voice to the Voiceless, Kashi demonstrates the immense power of the reflective lens in bringing light to the problems of this world and to the power of the human spirit in overcoming those problems. In a statement to mark the exhibition, Kashi said illustrating the optimistic human spirit – its strength, energy, courage, determination, humor, compassion, beauty, and hope – generates development.

“As many good people, governments, and organizations diligently work to promote solutions to combat our troubling global concerns, the role of photojournalists is to support and encourage these efforts, as well as to uncover and bear witness to the problems. It is essential for the public to know what those in power are doing and what is happening to the less fortunate; to be made aware of how we are all connected in our societies and, ultimately, on this earth. Visual storytelling plays a unique role in affording this transparency,” said the award winning photojournalist.

%d bloggers like this: