This exhibit in Kyiv is a logical ending of the eponymous international documentary photo project, which has already been shown in six Ukrainian cities.
Scenes of military conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somali, Iraq, and the Caucasus were captured by such worldwide known photographers as the multiple winner of the most prestigious international contests, including Word Press Photo, Ami Vitale, Associated Press photo journalists Bernat Armangue and Yefrem Lukatsky (by the way, he participated in Den-2012 Photo Exhibition), and also Aleksandr Glyadyelov, whose works are constantly used by such international organizations as MSF, HRW, The Global Find, UNAIDS, and UNICEF.
Also, theme stands dedicated to World War II, wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, North Ossetia, and 2001 terror attacks in New York display scenes which serve as a warning for future generations.
The Day asked the “War Steals Childhood” exhibition participants if it was possible to help children with these photos.
This problem remains urgent since the times of Kevin Carter’s famous photo of a girl dying of starvation with a vulture hovering over her. Remarkably, he won a Pulitzer Prize for this photo, but all he did back then was take the picture and walk away.
“Photography remains the most honest mass media tool: the picture corresponds to the date and event,” said Aleksandr GLYADYELOV as he answered our question.
“Nowadays, technology advanced so far that cameras have built-in wi-fi, which lets photographers send news in faster than television journalists. However, there is so much visual rubbish now that people can barely be affected by anything. If there is an opportunity to interfere and help, that is what most of photographers do.”
According to Yefrem LUKATSKY, a photo is not just a mere reflection, but a means of influence.
“I remember when I made photos of the almost extinct Khazar tribe in Afghanistan, journalists asked the British Prime Minister Tony Blair why humanitarian aid did not reach Afghanistan. And it was sent to that country the next day!
You know, that was when I first felt that my profession is important. And regarding moral barriers, there are moments when we lower cameras. I will give an example, which I happened to be a witness of.
The First Chechen war, January 1995, the town is stormed, almost all civilians are gone.
I was there with a group of worldwide known journalists, four of them being Pulitzer Prize winners. For safety reasons, we keep close to each other.
And we have to cross the road very carefully, because snipers are up on the buildings, so we stay close to the walls, because it’s safer that way. And then we see an old lady with a bucket going to get water (which is scarce during war).
And we, photographers, get ready, you know: an old lady with a bucket, empty houses, it would be a nice photo. But the next moment, a sniper shoots her in the head. The lady falls, her bucket rolls away, and these winners of prestigious awards stop taking pictures, leap out of their safe spots, grab her and carry her to a safer place.
And one of our colleagues took a picture of worldwide known photographers carrying her. And when we got to safety, this colleague sends the picture to the office: ‘look, James Nachtwey (yes, the very James Nachtwey, the best of the best) carries her!’ In ten minutes, he gets a call from the company’s vice president, who says: ‘Listen, you had no right to take this picture, you should have carried her with the others. We are not going to use this photograph. You did a wrong thing.’ It is an acceptable thing for us to rewrite history. I am a documentalist and only want to capture it.”
