The art of being disturbed
Images are a religious
issue to me. Not only because photography is an art form I practice and
love dearly but because the images that we see can, and often do, have a
profound effect on how we conduct our lives – to disturb us in one or the
other of these meanings (maybe both). If you are old enough to remember the
Viet Nam war then you also remember the photograph of the naked, crying
child running in pain and terror from the napalm strike on her village.
That picture put a human face, the face of a terribly hurt child, on that
war. The outrage generated by that picture marked, in my opinion, the
turning of the tide of public opinion against the Viet Nam war. If helping
stop a war isn't a religious issue, I don't know what is.
Images of surpassing beauty
also influence us and change our lives - and in a much more pleasant way. I
hope to convince you that we should be much more conscious and intentional
about how we allow ourselves to be influenced.
The pdf file has the details.