CARE Affair #11 - Power

That makes it all the more important
to protect refugees like Begum.
It is not only essential to have the
person’s written agreement to the
photographs; we must also judge in
each case whether a photo could
endanger the person. In the case of
children, the parent or legal guardian
must give their agreement, but here
too we must first take a very critical
look at the issue of whether images
and stories can reopen wounds
or damage the child’s wellbeing.
Photos are essential to give an
impression of the situation on the
ground. Photos give the viewer an
insight into the lives of people who
live in distant places and who need
our help and solidarity. A degrading,
dishonest or insulting portrayal of
need and misery is not only wrong; it
is simply immoral. But it is also
important to present the affected
people’s living conditions realistically.
In the areas where I work for CARE, it
is unfortunately not unusual that a
child is severely malnourished and
wearing ragged, dirty clothes, or that
an older person is suffering from a
disease, and close to death. That
doesn’t mean however that I should
expose these people in their deepest
suffering in order to shock. Would I
want strangers to take photographs of
me if I had no clothes on? Would I
want a picture of my child to be on a
poster in a big city, if I hadn’t agreed
to this? We would all answer these
questions with a loud “No”, for sure.
Yet the need is real. Aid
organizations like CARE work on
behalf of women, men and children,
who in some cases are living in
degrading conditions. It is our duty to
inform the public about humanitarian
crises and to appeal to do something
for these people. One aspect of this is
also to describe the victims’ living
conditions realistically and to make
clear how the situation can be
changed for the better. So in every
crisis it is and remains a balancing act
between ethics, reality and public
attention.
My deployments to areas of
conflict and crisis have changed my
point of view. Now when I walk
through the mall, I don’t see staged
images of starving African children
on the billboards and screens. I see
children like Deez and hope that the
attention and donations that these
photos generate will enable him and
many others to survive.
That’s poverty porn. Isn’t it?
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