By
now it is a truism that “The first casualty of war is truth.”
How
is anyone to know what is going on? Which news source to believe: Al
Jazeera? Fox? CNN? Both the New York Times and Washington Post
recently apologized to their readers for the inadequacy of their
pre-invasion period coverage.
US
and other foreign journalists were “embedded” with American and
British troops. Few were able to explore the Iraqi side of things.
Now
it is unsafe for US journalists to walk the streets in much of Iraq. Few
speak Arabic. In many situations reporting is prohibitively dangerous and
difficult.
The
Daylight Community Arts Foundation, a group committed to new forms of
documentary, had the idea of providing Iraqi civilians with disposable
cameras to get another, perhaps more tenable point of view. Why not ask
the subjects what is going on, instead of making them the objects of a
foreigner’s camera?
These
pictures are a result of that experiment. They are glimpses from the
inside. Ten people were given cameras in April and May. They were told:
“This is an opportunity to show the American public what you want them
to see.”
No
one has found weapons of mass destruction. But in these pictures – taken
from only ten rolls of film - there may be glimmers of another, more
formidable weapon: understanding.
PixelPress
is an organization that encourages documentary photographers, writers,
filmmakers, artists, human rights workers and students to take advantage
of the digital media. They encourage an active dialogue between the
author, reader and subject. PixelPress has worked with organizations such
as Crimes of War, Human Rights Watch, World Health Organization and
UNICEF, as well as individuals such as Machiel Botman, Kent Klich and
Sebastião Salgado. To learn more visit www.pixelpress.org.
Daylight
Community Arts Foundation
is a non-profit organization focused on community-based documentary
partnerships throughout the world. They believe that the distribution of
imagery and text addressing issues of importance can empower individuals
and communities to affect long-lasting change. To learn more about
Daylight visit www.daylightmagazine.org.
***All proceeds from the sale of
the images will go to the 'Friends of Jassim'
a collective of concerned individuals from the photographic community
working to raise awareness and foster dialogue on the multitude of issues
surrounding the work of fixers, while also urgently trying to secure the
safety of Iraqi fixer Jassim.
Mustafa Ahmed Yassim
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