Here you will see the work of previous students. Please read this over if you are unsure how to write your own journal.
Assignment: Hi All, Please go to <http://www.iraqjournal.org/photo/index.html>. Go through the entire photo series. After that go to one of the news magazines and read about the possible war that we will have with these people. Then discuss whether you believe an essay can be more powerful than a series of photos about the same event. Use exact examples and be specific, please. Jan
Student Journal Responses
From: September Thorlin
The pictures on the website show a side of the middle-eastern life that is not always seen on televsion and in newspapers. They leave out the activist with bombs strapped to their chest and do not show the groups of people who are planning attacks on the US, at least abviously, and only show the life of the people living in the area who are being affected the most. Often times when people think of the middle east and those within, they think they are finatics who are constantly thinking of ways to attack the US; constantly chanting anti-US songs and buring American flags. A lot of people don't understand that this isn't how all middle-eastern people live and think. Of course all of our country will agree that we should go to war with these people; the media portrays them as all being terrorists. Granted, there appears to be a large number that are, but there are also a large number of people who live as average people with their families just wanting to live their lives free of danger and war. They may disagree with our thinking, as some of us do with theirs, but that does not mean that they want to be at war with us. The people in power and those with means, as in weapons and masses of followers, are usually the people who want to go to war. I am not sure where I stand as far as if I think we should go to war. On the one side, the people who are ruling, whether by politics or force, of that region of the world did attack our contry and act as if they would do it again at the drop of a hat if given the chance. However, these people are not the entire population; the rest are members of familes like us who only want to make the best of their lives, made of protective parents and growing children who strive only to be happy, such as the little boy in the street in one the the first pictures. He is one of the expamples that their families and children want the same as ours, " 'Ana, ana.' (me,me) as he tapped his chest, Take just on picture of me. I never got his his name, but he lives in the Saddam City district of northern Baghdad." Our coutries want the same from life, it's our people in power who are detemined to fight each other to prove their dominance. There are the occassional every day people on both sides who want to push for war, but as for the majority of citizens from all sides, they just want the fighting and killing of innocent people to be over. As for me, I think that if everyone could see pictures of the faces of the pepole they wanted attacked and killed, then hopefully if they have any heart at all left, they would be able to put their hatred and anger away and stop all of this.
From: Dulcy Powers
Comments
After viewing the pictures in the picture gallery I have come to the conclusion that there
are several variables that can determine whether pictures speak louder than words. While I
viewed these pictures they weren’t giving me any feelings of what message they were
trying to portray. Oh, the children are cute, but what is the meaning behind the photo.
When I got to the pictures of people rushing the jails, I finally got some feelings from
the pictures because I understood what was going on. The only reason I understood was
because there was a couple of sentences below the photo that explained what was happening.
Had I not read those few sentences the picture would have had no meaning. Although this
was the case with this round of photos I believe there are other instances where it would
be different.
If I were to see a group of pictures that showed dying and hurt people that represented a war, that would be more effective to me than an essay on war. These pictures would plant a vision in my head so real and vividly that I would have no choice but to feel the pain of the people portrayed. On the other hand, if I were to read an excellent essay about a specific war I would temporarily have a slight view and understanding of the pain and fear, but not fully understand. In a couple of hours I would probably have forgotten the details of what I had read and it would have had no impact on my life or views. In this instance the pictures of war would be exceptionally more profound than the essay.
I also believe that the quality of the pictures or words also determines which are more profound. There could be pictures of bomber plains flying through the air and bombs falling to the ground and yet they aren't showing the aftermath. There could be an article explaining the same thing that goes into more detail and depth, giving more feeling to the words than to the pictures. To wrap it up, I would say that it completely depends on the depth and feeling of the pictures verses the words in order to determine which is more profound.
From: Sheila Kohler
I have always believed that in certain instances “pictures speak a thousand words”. As I scrolled through the picture journal, I found that most of the pictures reached out and made a very clear point—the people within Iraq are very happy with and support Saddam as their leader. Several of these pictures displayed people gathered and holding Saddam’s posters and pictures high in the air, and the inscriptions below the pictures told of the people chanting about Saddam. In this male dominated society, women too, were photographed gathering and displaying their support of the current leader by waving the Iraqi flag, singing their praises, and bearing large, beautiful smiles. These pictures make it abundantly clear that the people within Iraq are perfectly content with their current leader. I chose to read “Sheltered from the storm?” by Kit Roane the article starts out by getting the opinion of a sixteen year-old Kuwaiti boy about the looming war who states “Why should I be afraid with all the American soldiers in the desert to protect us?”(pp 1). Roane describes the overall mood of this country as “No Fear” as the threat of an impending war closes in. I don’t know about you, but the war is nowhere near my continent, much less my city, but the thought of this impending war scares me to death. The words in this article definitely touched me. As a vetran of the U.S. Navy, I feel that the countries may be alright with this war as long as it is our military out there fighting the majority of the battles—and it is our sons and daughters dieing to protect them from this possible war. If we weren’t there to protect them I wonder what the mood of this country would be? In some of the other pictures, the conditions in which these people live are just horrific. The subscripts tell of how the last Gulf War damaged their sewage systems and the current U.N. embargos have prevented the cities to get the needed supplies to fix these problems. Both the words and the picture are equally effective. I can’t help but feel ashamed and guilty as I live comfortably in my three bedrooms and two baths house, because my country the United States is apart of the reason these people live in such substandard conditions. I truly believe that both pictures and words are quite effective in getting messages across. I also feel that the combination of the two will leave these words and images echoing in the minds of those who read a view them.
From: Renee Peters
There is something powerful in a series of photographs telling a story. There is something differently powerful of an essay telling the same story. Each method has its strengths to carry out its message in a different way. I think that pictures can give us an exact and definite imagine for us to look at. I also think that you can see the expressions on people’s faces and look into their eyes in a way no words in an essay ever can. I also think that this is a very quick and effective way to produce an image, instead of reading a really long passage and then trying to come up with a picture in your mind you think the author is trying to get across. Words can also have a descriptive power that a photograph cannot capture in its lens. A picture is only a brief second in time, the real world keeps going, what happened after the photo was taken, or before. You need words to describe things you cannot with just a series of photos. For example I think that the elderly man in the picture with the green and white robe on, sitting in front of the books in the photo series looks happy and content and like he doesn’t have a care in the world. Yet I think that this picture does not tell the whole story, if I was a journalist I would ask him many things about his life. I bet he has a lot of knowledge and wisdom and knows a lot about history and life stories and how it is really like to live over there and the treat of war looming. This picture out of all of them struck me the most. This picture cannot tell you everything you need to know, and Essays can be very powerful in filling in the details. You need words to describe what is going on, what is happening in the picture, where the picture was taken, ect. I think that one is not complete without the other. Pictures allow you to look into people’s faces and see into their eyes and emotions and daily lives, were as essays can’t do that as effectively. Yet there are some things that you cannot capture on film, time and movement, what the people were saying, what was going on? I think that an essay written by a very good writer can tell you a story about the same since as in a string of pictures. I do not think that one is more powerful that the other. I think that they are compliments of each other and any responsible person who wants to clearly get his message across should use the best of pictures and best of the English language to get their point across, which is the goal, not debating wither pictures or words are better. Each method, pictures and words have special have different good aspects and do something special. Each put their own message to the reader out in a different way to the reader and the reader receives them in a different way.
From: Joanna Constantine
Comments
Words or pictures? I think each can be persuasive, each can be disturbing, and each can make us feel uneasy or comfortable. Which is more powerful? That's a tough question. At Time.com I read an article called "Is Saddam a Menace or a Nuisance?" In this article, the author, Tony Karon, says that the US feels Saddam is a menace, the old European view is that he is nothing more than a nuisance. Each view was represented well in the article. Mr. Karon used examples to back up both the menace and the nuisance stance, however, it left me unconvinced of either. I don't know whether war is right. I'm just a person who lives a long ways from where the war would take place. It seems surreal to me. I feel like if Saddam doesn't comply with the UN he should be punished, however, I don't know that blowing up innocent cities filled with families and children is the right punishment. I look through the photos and I see everyday people just like me. I see kids, parents, women. They're not holding guns, they're not threatening me in any way. They're smiling, waving, and being quite peaceful. Do the pictures make me think we shouldn't go to war. No, not necessarily. War dates back to biblical times. It's often a needed means to and end. I want to protect my family too, and if this means war with Iraq, then so be it. I guess my stance on pictures versus words would have to be this: words and pictures together seem to be the most moving to me personally. Had Mr. Karon's Feb. 19, 2003 article about Saddam shown pictures of Iraqi soldiers guarding weapons of mass destruction with Saddam's face painted on the wall behind them, I think I can say for sure that I'd pick war! And had the photos shown children crying, families torn apart, death and pain, I would've said war is so unfair, it's wrong. But if it said "these children were ravished by United States soldiers who were following orders from President Bush. Many children lost their parents and are now orphans," I would have been heartbroken, and hated that my country did this. But if the caption said "saddam hussein said that any family who does not follow him will be punished and this is the children whose parents didn't follow," well then I'd be pissed at Saddam, and ready for the US to go kick some butt. I guess what I'm saying is that words make pictures come alive. Ok, there you have it, I picked which I like better. You can often give a very clear picture with words, but a photo without words is left up to us to fill in the caption, and it can often be incorrect. Photographs are a powerful tool, but without words they're just still frames with no life. Words give photos energy, real life, and words can tell us so much. I remember watching Pearl Harbor for the first time and being sickened by the death and horror it showed. I have seen lots of Pearl Harbor pictures, read about it in history classes, but with the movie, words written and spoken by people that we had grown to love throughout the movie, it was heartbreaking to see the death and mass destruction the Japanese had done. It made it so real for me. That movie was an essay, written to be performed, and it was performed so well that it made me angry, disgusted, and sad all at the same time. Words can be so powerful.
From: Jan -- jstrever@scc.spokane.edu
Comments
Okay, I was just talking with Melony and Dulcy about this photo series of folks going
about their business. In one, we have a fellow talking to his buddy; in another, we have a
child with a shy smile; another picture offers two young girls going about the business of
being children .... Just think, if we go ahead and follow with the plan of attack that
Bush and others would have us do, each of these people could be lying lifeless, their
smiles forever obliterated. How can that be?
We have them here captured, and if you believe the latest in brain studies, their faces will always be imprinted somewhere on our brains, waiting for recall. They could come to us late at night when we are too tired to sleep, or perhaps, as we drive down Mission, there on the stoop of the old brick building, the two young girls wave at us, not knowing that they have died, that their murderers are casually cruising Mission. The photos do not give us this reality; in fact, a contrary vision is presented to us: Look at these nice folks, not a gun among them.
It's towards the end of the series that we begin to see that all is not well with their world when barb wire covers fences and paint peels from walls. We notice, too, that not everyone has a "cellie" attached her ear and that much of the clothing we are shown is frayed and torn.
These are the enemies we are told -- kill or be killed we are told; if you aim the gun, you must pull the trigger we are told again and again and again.
What is more powerful? The pictures presented here or words weaving their way across the page. Dulcy tells me it depends -- the photos here are innocuous displaying little power, and the caption beneath each photo is impotent, yet if we go to war, if we pull out our massive weapons of destruction and use them, these folks here, who are much like you and me, will come to us, will haunt our sleep, lost souls seeking refuge, and perhaps they will even haunt our waking hours.
Words or pictures ... pictures or words ... are useless after the button is pushed, the weapon is fired, or the bomb exploded. Before then, words and pictures can change the course of human events if we take the time and energy to create them.
Until the next time,
Jan