Photofilm, “If he is dead, I need proof, let me bury him”

It’s an argument sometimes given by supporters of the most visually gratuitous forms of photojournalism that we need to see the full horror to understand the ‘truth’.

A woman’s husband is taken out and shot.

Are you really prepared to make the argument that by witnessing the event, and presenting it back to me on film, duckrabbit will somehow gain an understanding of what that women is going through?

No.

I will feel sick.

I will be appalled.

I may cry.

I may even donate to make myself feel better.

But ten minutes later I will go back to drinking my latte and worrying about Liverpool FC being in the relegation zone, and I will strike those images from my mind. Because that’s the natural thing to do. That’s not to say that such images are not important, but that the effect they have is overstated.

If you really want to disturb me, like a good horror film, then you need to get me to create the images inside my head. That’s what really sticks.

I don’t like a lot of Human Rights communications. Too often the brand of the charity, and the voice of someone within it, comes before the voices and the stories of those that they are trying to help. No-one watches those videos anyway except the Director of Communication who is looking for a pat on the back for extending the brand (to no-one).

This photofilm works. And without me having to box up any graphic images of suffering. Well done Amnesty International (see you got your brand mentioned and a pat on the back for producing good content)

More info on The Rights Exposure Project Here.