Theory of Knowledge - Course Companion for Students Marija Uzunova Dang Arvin Singh Uzunov Dang

IV. Ethics
fact that people far away can see with visceral
The
the facts of a crisis like the one now
immediacy
the Horn of Africa is one of the most optimistic
hitting
of the modern world. Consciences are
aspects
by the camera. Don McCullin’s pictures
awakened
Biafra in 1969 are moving examples of the
of
photographers have forced the world to see
way
reality of hunger. It is only since the dawn of
the
photojournalism that global conscience has
modern
the hunger of others as a responsibility.
accepted
the camera it was almost incredibly easy to
Before
famine. Victorian Britain ignored it in Ireland,
ignore
near and yet so far. Artists painted beautiful
so
that rarely even hinted at the real lives
landscapes
the rural poor. Only in paintings of apocalyptic
of
such as Bruegel’s ‘Triumph of Death’ do we
horror
photograph can put suering on the front of your
A
while you eat breakfast.
paper
the narrative of the Global South,
However,
with Western literature in the 16th
beginning
and continuing through photographs
century
into the 21st century, has perpetuated
well
and disempowering stereotypes
inaccurate
fails to foreground important contextual
and
How many pictures of starving
factors.
in Africa simultaneously condemn
children
legacy of colonialism? Do modern
the
therefore continue to flatten
photographs
narrative, reducing the subjects of such
the
to objects of pity, without context
photographs
Campbell, a professor of cultural and
David
geography, has raised questions
political
the “compassion fatigue” and damage
about
by stereotypical mother-and-child
caused
of poverty. He quotes the report
photographs
of Africa” published by Oxfam that
“Image
the media representation of the
studied
famine:
Ethiopian
these pictures overwhelmingly showed people
All
needing our pity—as passive victims. This was
as
a de-contextualised concentration on mid-
through
close-up shots emphasising body language
and
facial expressions. The photos seemed mainly
and
be taken from a high angle with no eye contact,
to
reinforcing the viewer’s sense of power
thus
with their apathy and hopelessness.
compared
decisions may sometimes appear
Aesthetic
but subtle signalling can still
inconsequential,
powerful. For example, consider a 2010
be
about rising food costs published in the
article
newspaper the Guardian. The same article
UK
presented with a different image in the
was
and online editions. In the printed
printed
there was a starving young boy in
version,
foreground against straws of grain in the
the
(Figure 10.12a). The online version uses
sunset
image of Somali men apparently rioting
an
high food prices (Figure 10.12b). The
against
is largely the same across both versions
text
can be accessed by following the link
and
To what extent do the different images
here.
your understanding and/or response to
affect
terms: Guardian 2010
Search
prices rise UN report
Food
10
Figure 10.11
This photo tells a dierent story from the one that
comes out of the photographer’s camera
glimpse the experience of famine in pre-modern art.
(Jones 2011)
(van der Gaag, Nash 1987)
or agency?
the article?
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