Awake

Visual communications, good causes, and mixed messages

Today's Reuter's AlertNet has an interesting article on the lamentable use of what is being termed "development pornography," in which naked children or women are photographed in a pathetic state and in turn that photograph is used by NGOs to raise money for relief and development causes.

The problem is the double standard being employed: would you want your child photographed naked and sick for the entire world to see? Would you want your mother photographed bare-breasted and dehydrated so that money could be raised for a cause being implemented possibly on the same continent? Put in these terms, the issue seems clear cut, but the issue is in fact far from being clear.

The poor of the world are forgotten and disenfranchised by definition and a shocking image seems justified to awake a complacent global population to the demise of their neighbors. But does that shocking image create and reinforce a stereotype that in effect creates and reinforces a barrier that keeps people emotionally, spiritually, and physically at a distance from their neighbors? The picture of a child with a bloated stomach and rib cage pressed against his paper-thin skin says, "I should pity you, I should give money to relieve my conscience," right? How often does it say, "I recognize you. You are my brother, my sister, my child, my mother, and my father. You are my Jesus. I will go to you in compassion, love, and respect and I will carry your burden. I will lift you up out of the pit." I don't know how often images of unnamed malnourished children assumed to be living somewhere in a continent of 54 countries really moves people to that conclusion. My guess is, not very often.

This is a relatively new debate to me, and I'm not the only one, as this article notes:

"It's got worse in the last 10 years," said Nikki van der Gaag, a freelance writer and editor. "There's a whole new generation of people working in NGOs who've never had this debate before."

Source: Reuters AlertNet—Aid workers lament rise of 'development pornography'

If you want to dig a little deeper into this issue, here is the link to the article mentioned as well as a couple links recommended at the end of the article:

• Reuters AlertNet—Aid workers lament rise of 'development pornography'
• Imaging Famine
• Reuters AlertNet—NGOs still fail standards on appeal images

Peace.