The mighty power of photography

Yesterday's front page of the New York Times is stirring some debate about the power of photography. And it looks like the Times is winning that debate.


Tuesday's front page of the Times ran a photo of a starving, emaciated child from famine-plagued Somalia. The child is so thin that his skin seems to drape on his bones. The haunting and devastating photograph by Tyler Hicks sent shockwaves around the world, especially here in the United States, a country that has largely ignored the suffering of the people of Somalia in favor of a petty squabble by our political elite. We won't be raising our taxes on the rich while children starve in other countries. That's not political commentary; that's fact.

The photo might be remembered alongside Kevin Carter's famous 1993 photo from Sudan that featured a skeletal child doubled over in the dirt while a vulture, menacing and evil, loomed in the background. That vivid photo, which would contribute to Carter's unbearable memories and eventual suicide, brought international attention to the Sudan.  It seems like Hicks' photo might do the same for Somalia. The photographs speak to the horrific conditions on the other side of the lens. The cameras aren't just tools, but witnesses. While the photographs are sickening and sad, they jolt us from our relaxed states. They wake us up and force us to consider the issue, because there it is right in front  of us glaring back in horror.

Read more on the issue here and here.