The above emotionally evoking image was taken by famous photographer James Nachtwey. Natchwey was born March 14, 1948 and was/is an American photojournalist and war photographer. He studied political science and art history and Dartmouth College in Massachusetts where he grew up.
"The main purpose of my work is to appear in the mass media. It’s not so much that I want my pictures to be looked upon as art objects as it is a form of communication. Whatever I did that accomplished something, I’m glad for it. But there’s always so much more to do. I’ve never felt complete; I’ve never felt satisfied. I wouldn’t say I could use the word ‘happy’ about it because its always involved other people’s tragedies and other people’s misfortunes. At best, there’s a kind of grim satisfaction that perhaps I brought some attention, and focused people’s attention on these problems.Perhaps it brought some relief. But its shifting sand that keeps moving."
~ James Nachtwey
My first impression of this photography was one of disturbance and strong confrontation because of the main subject, a starving – nearly dead man. To me this image tells a story and can be interpreted in two ways. A figure is handing something, most likely a piece of paper to the starving man. Notice the watch on his wrist and what appears to be some type of suit jacket. Both these elements suggest this figure is obviously at a higher standard of living. Now the question I’m faced with is why is this man giving him a piece of paper? What could this piece of paper possibly contain that is going to help this man in the last few hours or days in his life. The sickening fact that the figure could not even crouch down to the starving man’s level seems almost inhumane. However the next person may see this as an act of kindness as if the figure is helping this poor human by offering something and reaching out to him.
"The main purpose of my work is to appear in the mass media. It’s not so much that I want my pictures to be looked upon as art objects as it is a form of communication. Whatever I did that accomplished something, I’m glad for it. But there’s always so much more to do. I’ve never felt complete; I’ve never felt satisfied. I wouldn’t say I could use the word ‘happy’ about it because its always involved other people’s tragedies and other people’s misfortunes. At best, there’s a kind of grim satisfaction that perhaps I brought some attention, and focused people’s attention on these problems.Perhaps it brought some relief. But its shifting sand that keeps moving."
~ James Nachtwey
My first impression of this photography was one of disturbance and strong confrontation because of the main subject, a starving – nearly dead man. To me this image tells a story and can be interpreted in two ways. A figure is handing something, most likely a piece of paper to the starving man. Notice the watch on his wrist and what appears to be some type of suit jacket. Both these elements suggest this figure is obviously at a higher standard of living. Now the question I’m faced with is why is this man giving him a piece of paper? What could this piece of paper possibly contain that is going to help this man in the last few hours or days in his life. The sickening fact that the figure could not even crouch down to the starving man’s level seems almost inhumane. However the next person may see this as an act of kindness as if the figure is helping this poor human by offering something and reaching out to him.
But as I thought about this image more and more I started to question myself. When we donate to charity here in Australia is it fair to say we are the figure reaching down to the starving man? Some would see this as a king gesture but others would see this and useless. Nearly all this mans bones can be seen and looks like if he had a meal it would kill him. So are we really helping the way we think we are?
The composition for this image was well thought even though there would have only been a time frame of opportunity to take this image. By cutting the figure out only leaving his arm in the frame it leaves unanswered questions for the view to interpret. The leading line of the arm also puts the focus on the main subject. The man’s body also I spread across the three points of the rule of thirds with the figures hand in one of the points. The fact that Natchwey has chosen the monochromatic colour scheme adds to the overall feel of the images as it puts focus on the main subject and separates it from the boring background. There is also a sense of balance as one side is not overly heavy opposed to the other. The texture and colour of the blanket he has over half of his body almost blends in with the ground and gives the illusion that he is part of the earth which shows the viewer how sick this man actually is.
Although this image emotionally affects me because of the strong confronting images I really admire how the photographer captured this moment in time and the look on the starving man’s face. All in all I think this image is very powerful.
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