In Graphics class, it can be hard at times to focus on the importance of visual concepts when you're a writer. I admit I've occasionally lost interest because it seems that I'll be the one writing the content, not making it look appealing to the eye.
I had never heard of Ed Kashi before he spoke at Newhouse. To people like me, who aren't necessarily interested in photography, he offers something different that the visual promise of a picture.
I learned that all of Kashi's work does more than aesthetically please. They provide a middle ground between the scene as it is and the story as it is written. This undoubtedly applies to my prospective career because Kashi's photography tells a story by itself.
Take a look at the photo above. You can see the weary-eyed mother almost pleading for help as she looks into Kashi's lens. Her malnourished child is sprawled out in the background, exhausted. Kashi took this picture for a collection he did on the oil industry in Nigeria. Doesn't it tell a story?
The phrase "a picture is worth a thousand words" comes to mind here. I thought that in certain, famous photographs this principle certainly applies. In Kashi's case, using photography is a tool to illustrate or re-illustrate the story, not simply eye candy for the reader.
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