RECOMMENDS II

Another day, another recommends blog. 

I've been seeing a lot of 'photos of the year' coming up on my FB feed. Firstly, Time Picks The Top 10 Photos of 2011, largely featuring images from international conflicts around the world. The below photo taken by Dominic Nahr in Somalia was particularly shocking. I recently read Angela's Ashes in which Frank McCourt documents his childhood in Ireland in the 1930s-40s. The kind of deprivation he experienced I'm guessing didn't exactly approximate what we see below, but he still lived in poverty (in large part due to his drunken father who was unable to keep a job and drank all their money).  For the vast majority of the time the children, of which there were many, were left wanting for the basic necessities. The way in which he talks again and again about not having enough food, eating scraps, stealing to eat, eating the worst cuts of meat (e.g. a pig's head for Christmas rather than a goose or ham), an egg or an apple being a luxury, only having sugar and water rather than milk for the babies, I just realised how completely and absolutely removed I am from such extreme impoverishment. Of course I know starvation exists in the world. I know it theoretically, I know it in an abstract sense. But it's only when I read a book like Angela's Ashes or see a picture like the one below, that I really know the reality of it in a true and physical sense. From there I feel the obligation to do something about it, a responsibility to my fellow human being which is extremely easy to forget when it's all so out of sight out of mind. I think of the John Donne poem:


"No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. 
If a clod be washed away by the sea, 
Europe is the less, 
as well as if a promontory were, 
as well as a manor of thine friends or thine own were.
Any man's death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind
and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls,
it tolls for thee."

Next, Reuters Best Photos of the Year 2011 (100 photos). These photos are just such a shocking and emotive portrayal of 2011 which literally brought tears to my eyes. Image #22 of a broken and abandoned cello in Chernobyl, Ukraine is one such example. I've seen a friend of mine play this stunning instrument with such masterful skill, insisting on hiring a cello in Germany during his exchange despite huge cost. The lyricism and joy that can emanate from such instruments qualifies them as objects to be cherished and valued, and in this respect the photo speaks of how much was really lost in Chernobyl. This overview of the past year is actually stunning and I would say superior to the above shoot by TIME, although of course more labour intensive to look through (but worth it!!). 

Interestingly, both sites display writing underneath the photos to explain the stories they are intended to relate. Although I didn't read every word, I often at least glanced at each paragraph to get a better idea of the photo. Tells you something about the interdependence of word and image I think. 

Finally, although this website doesn't, so far as I can tell, have a 'best photos of 2011', the images Alan Taylor collates on In Focus are spectacular. These photos from The Holocaust are just so indescribably intense. No matter how many times you see images from concentration camps they never cease to be so absolutely shocking, a terrible reminder of the potential evil residing within humanity that is completely beyond the most carnal instincts of any animal. The image below isn't one of brutality but in it we can really see and empathize with the personal and individual humanity of these individuals. I find the boy with the star of David particularly evocative; the dark Jewish features, intelligent eyes, small smile and the almost delicate movement of the hand is so distinctive, speaking of sensitivity, intellect and infinite potential; tragic for the future we know awaited him in the German concentration camps. 

On an entirely different note

It's important to make the connection between asset sales and their environmental implications, a link Jeanette Fitzsimons outlines in the video below. Actually, unless we want to screw over future generations entirely, we can't let this happen. New Zealand is doing so badly in terms of the environment right now. But that's material for another post. For now, check out Generation Zero on FB. This is the kind of activism we need to get into; intelligent, transcending the political spectrum, creative and community oriented. Instead of scare-tactics which just dis-empower us, we should instead get passionate and creative and connect with one another. Otherwise countering climate change and other environmental issues will never gain momentum and continue to be a dispiriting uphill battle, destined to failure. 

                                       

Dunedin

absofrockinlutely.blogspot.com by Loulou Callister-Baker and April Chiu (two University of Otago students) is visually stunning; their photographic images are beautiful and the design of the blog itself is so clean, the use of white creating a sense of simplicity and space ("simplicity is the ultimate sophistication" as Leonardo Da Vinci said). The formatting  of the blog posts is also, for the most part, impeccable (something I readily appreciate given the difficulties I've experienced in this area in recent weeks). So the posts are, for the most part, very visually involving. However, although the blog's greatest strength is its design and use of images, I would like to see a bit more writing which investigates what is presented to us. Granted I would say that given my penchant for the written word but I still think greater explication of the images would strengthen the blog. This would be particularly so were Loulou and April to elaborate more on why they are inspired by a particular image, the history of these images or their particular strengths. Perhaps, however, they prefer to let the images speak for themselves, an authorial decision I'd have to respect despite my particular preferences.