Saturday, May 25, 2013

Can Photographs Change the World?



There was a famous quote from photographer Eddie James stating “The most powerful weapon in the world has been, and can be a photograph.  Military weapons can only destroy.  Cameras, in the hands of photographers with hearts can capture Love-Hope-Passion-Change lives and make the world a better place…”  I couldn’t agree more and I strongly believe pictures have a way of captivating its audience like few things can.  In the picture it shows our world for the first time as a small a peaceful globe, with no surroundings.  This image was taken in 1968 and forever changed the way we view our world.  We have never seen this view and US Nature photographer Galen Rowell describes this image as "the most influential environmental photograph ever taken".  Kristen Erickson of NASA headquarters even suggests “"It changed humanity's entire orientation."This picture provides irrefutable evidence to support the case that pictures do indeed change the world.  





Photographer – William Anders


When I think of photographs that changed my life, I immediately think of the images posted from 9/11. Personally, I joined the US Coast Guard after the 9/11 attacks as an obligation to my country; and I know for a fact that these photographs changed me and the world.  After the events took place the country would never be the same again.  Laws were changed, procedures were altered, flight patterns were changed, etc...  But soon after the news stopped showing the videos of the planes crashing into the buildings, and the aftermath; all that was left was the photos.  Each individual photograph holds a place in each of our memory banks, and we all relive that day when we see those pictures.  Whenever I see the images of that day it reminds me of why I joined the service, and it instills a sense of justice and patriotism inside of me.  The lasting impact of those photos will remain with us all every time we see them, and we will be forever changed by them.


 


Photographer - Roberto Robanne


I recently watched a short clip of Jonathan Klein (Chief Executive Officer of Getty Images, Inc) and he mentioned how "Images have provoked reactions in people, and those reactions have caused change to happen."   I immediately thought of a funnier image that was actually a hoax, and the effect it had on the world.  The infamous picture of the “Loch Ness Monster” that Marmaduke Wetherell, his son Ian Wetherell, and model-maker Christian Spurling pulled off as one of the greatest pranks in world history through a single photograph.  Proving once again that photos can change the world as decades of speculation began, and a multi-million dollar tourism industry was created.  The fact that thousands of people around the world traveled in to try to catch a glimpse of “Ole Nessie” proves that photographs definitely have the power to change the world.

 


Photographer - Ian Wetherell
Source - http://www.neatorama.com/2007/01/02/13-photographs-that-changed-the-world/

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