Cameras for Iraq

[keithwms]

Frankly this thread is a disappointment.

I have people telling me that cell phones and digicams are good enough for my purposes, and I have people telling me that the narrated images I am seeing on my telly are all I need to form an opinion. And I have people who seem absolutely determined to inject politics at every turn. Now I have some newbie telling me that there are other stories more worth telling, as if the idea were somehow limited to the green zone in Baghdad.

End of thread for me. Thanks to those of you who did offer constructive comments.

 

[edz]

Frankly this thread is a disappointment.

Then let it be a disappointment. Fact is that the Iraq story is a TV and media spectacular. Much of the violence is made for TV and feeds on the global media perception. Much of the suicide bombing (shahid is a witness and demands witness) are about the media. This is, of course, not limited to Iraq.

I have people telling me that cell phones and digicams are good enough for my purposes,

The question is: What's your purpose?

and I have people telling me that the narrated images I am seeing on my telly are all I need to form an opinion.

The problem is that you HAVE FORMED an opinion and are NOT looking for information to understand but to reinforce and strengthen whatever arbitrary opinion you might already have formed--- on the basis of your media inputs and peer judgments.

Do you want to tell a story (and for what aims) or have an art project prostitute a conflict? The media should NOT be the message. The story should be the message!

Now I have some newbie telling me

"Newbie"? New at what?

that there are other stories more worth telling,

I think the argument (and one that I'd agree to) is that there are loads of other stories that are not being told. Aid and development that's being rerouted to high profile media spectacles. NGOs too are about money and they chase the "big stories". Its never about truth when the truth can't be sold.

End of thread for me. Thanks to those of you who did offer constructive comments.

And this is where the STORY starts!

 

[Ray Rogers]

The question is: What's your purpose?
Good Question

The problem is that you HAVE FORMED an opinion and are NOT looking for information to understand but to reinforce and strengthen whatever arbitrary opinion you might already have formed--- on the basis of your media inputs and peer judgments.
On what evidence do you base this claim?

Do you... have an art project prostitute a conflict?
What on earth does THAT mean?

Why are you so angry?
I have little idea what Keith has in mind with his project, Do you think you do?
You seem to have a grudge of some sort... There are lots of places where this sort of thing has been done, variation on themes eg giving children tape recorders (VOA/NPR?) and video cameras (NHK?) the concept is not new but I still don't see what brings out all the Hostilty I sense when I read your post...

You MUST be thinking something deeper than meets the eye...
but I still miss the picture here.

Spys? Yea, Hidden in plain sight works!
but cameras for the people need not be about espionage....

Do they?


Ed,
Thanks for your reply to my other question in this thread.
If you get the chance, do try to answer my PM about organometallic stabilizers...TIA.

 

[keithwms]

I will confess some curiosity about why the thread persisted after I left it.

I have no political motive (of which I am consciously aware)... I simply think it'd be reasonable to give people the opportunity to use instant film to capture their own perspective... of a conflict in which media information is very, very limited. If anybody thinks the media access isn't extremely limited wants to argue that point, please start another thread. I'll just note that media orgs from CNN to Al Jazeera have lost many personnel in Iraq. I recall that the total media deaths passed 100 almost two years ago. And no, I don't consider video feed from a predator drone to be media coverage on the ground.

My idea is simply to provide a standardized way for people of all walks of life to capture their perspective. Thus there is an implicit assumption that there is something else in the story that is worth recording. So, if a person doesn't first accept that there is more, then I suppose that a dismissive attitude could emerge. I can't rationalize a bitter or grudging attitude from someone who doesn't know me, so I will merely confess amusement.

 

[Photo_G]

I will confess some curiosity about why the thread persisted after I left it.

I have no political motive (of which I am consciously aware)... I simply think it'd be reasonable to give people the opportunity to use instant film to capture their own perspective... of a conflict in which media information is very, very limited. If anybody thinks the media access isn't extremely limited wants to argue that point, please start another thread. I'll just note that media orgs from CNN to Al Jazeera have lost many personnel in Iraq. I recall that the total media deaths passed 100 almost two years ago. And no, I don't consider video feed from a predator drone to be media coverage on the ground.

My idea is simply to provide a standardized way for people of all walks of life to capture their perspective. Thus there is an implicit assumption that there is something else in the story that is worth recording. So, if a person doesn't first accept that there is more, then I suppose that a dismissive attitude could emerge. I can't rationalize a bitter or grudging attitude from someone who doesn't know me, so I will merely confess amusement.

At the risk of being labeled a "newbie" in responding on this thread, I wonder why you think disposable film cameras (the ubiquitous wedding reception "table toy") would be the preferred means of accomplishing your task?

Wouldn't it be a lot easier, and the means already in place, to just ask for medium-level JPEG submissions?

Not to belittle film on a film site - but why would you call upon what is now a "specialized medium" to do a commonplace assignment?

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Closed by request of original poster.