Photography as an Instrument of Complaint

I still remember one of the first greatest lessons I received from a photographer, in fact that lesson was so great, it was etched in my mind, and it became a kind of mantra to me (even though I didn’t understood it quite completely). It is no secret that I live in a fairly turbulent country in terms of social security thanks to its uncontrolled violence. The fact undermines the peace of many sectors of the population (if not all of them). Photography, within its generosity, is not exclusive to social sectors, and one of the great fears of many people who have invested a considerable amount of money in their equipment is to be victim of an assault or robbery. That was one of the concerns that a student expressed to this already-seasoned photographer, and his response was “the camera gives you power”. He replied to his rhetorical quote that he felt even safer accompanied by a camera than without it.

It has taken me some time to really understand the diluted wisdom of those words from a person who does not practice photography as a profession and who has suffered several robberies and assaults too. The primordial thing here is that photography is an instrument that helps us to complain or to even make awareness via our own vision of reality.

Social Change and Awareness