In
the last post, I built an image of photograph. In today’s post, I’d like to
pick up real photographs and try to introduce the power of them. However, discovering a photograph that
influenced and actually changed the world is not an easy task. The reason is
simple: every single person has a different way to feel and think. So, it is
really up to the person whether the photo was significant as to change their
attitude or not. Moreover, every one has a different way to make an actual
action. I thought, however, discovering a photograph, which actually changed
the world might be difficult, but it is possible to find the one with strong
possibility to do so. It must be published and known by people all over the
world and not an individual photograph. So, I came to the conclusion to look
for Pulitzer winning photographs. This is the reason why the photographs I
introduce on today’s post are all (apart one) Pulitzer winning one.
To
understand the reason why I arrived to Pulitzer Prize, you have to know what
this prize is about. The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in
journalism[i],
literatures, dramas, and musical composition[ii].
“It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of American
(Hungarian-born) publisher Joseph Pulitzer, and is administered by Columbia
University in New York City.”[iii]
For the journalism branch, the winner’s nationality does not matter as long as
the peace of work is published on an American newspaper. The photographs are
included in a “Public Service”, and since this is for a distinguished example
of meritorious public service by a newspaper through the use of its
journalistic resource, I thought this award suits to what I was looking for.
There
are many photographs that won a Pulitzer Prize. There are photographs of
politic, religion, famine, poverty, children, or warfare. The photographs of
today’s post, however, are related to the Vietnam War[iv].
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
The first photograph is not the first
time to appear in this blog[v].
Looking these photographs, what did you feel and think? I believe these
photographs had a big importance to the world in order to make people aware for
the war happening in Vietnam. Through the photograph, people cannot only see,
but feel their plight of people who were taken. This is possible because, I
quoted in the last time post, “photographs can photograph not only an object
but also a specific time and a period.” So, these photographs,
which show an inconvenient or dramatic situation, can be a trigger to know
about them better. Not only that, people can also start to think what they
actually can do for them. See the photograph knowing this is truly happening,
is more powerful than just informing by the news.
There
were people who used this power of photographs to make good. They tried to make
the world more peaceful place. They say stop fight and make love instead. I am
talking about John Lennon and Ono Yoko’s Bed-in action. Since these two were
really famous in almost all over the world, they thought to use their own
popularity to make the world more peaceful place. After they get marry, Lennon
and Yoko, “the two master media manipulators used their celebrity for good,
hosting a honeymoon "bed-in" for peace in room 902, the presidential
suite of the Amsterdam Hilton. The press avidly pursued them, assuming that the
famous nudists would make love for their cameras. Instead, the pajama-clad
newlyweds spoke out about world peace. It was the honeymoon as performance art,
interlaced with a protest against the Vietnam War.”[vi]
This was really a powerful and meaningful action because many people knew them.
And since this event became pretty famous one, a lot of people saw these
photographs.
 |
| http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1887244_1860957,00.html |
In
today’s post, I wanted to emphasize last blog post about the power of the
photograph. Additionally, I wanted to let you know how the photograph can be
use to make good.
[i] Including online journalism since 2008. More information available:
http://www.pulitzer.org/new_eligibility_rules
[ii]2008 Winners and Finalists, available: http://www.pulitzer.org/awards/2008
[iii] History of The Pulitzer Prizes, http://www.pulitzer.org/historyofprizes
[iv] For further information about the war, look July 17’s post of this
page: http://thinkfreelyspeakfreely.blogspot.jp/search/label/war
[v] Look http://thinkfreelyspeakfreely.blogspot.jp/search/label/war
July 17’s post
[vi]Susan Breslow Sardone “The John Lennon/Yoko Ono Bed-In”
No comments:
Post a Comment