I'm finding myself facing one of those moments, and I know there will be many, when I wish I had someone here with me, if for no other reason than to talk about the things I've seen. I'm in Dubrovnik which is a beautiful little town (lots of pictures, go check them out), and in the midst of checking out cathedrals and museums and city walls, I decided to visit an exhibit in town called War Photo Limited. It's a photo gallery managed by Wade Goddard who is a former photojournalist and displays the work of other photojournalists to illustrate the impact of war. The current exhibit focuses on the conflict between Lebanon & Israel during the summer of 2006. There is one floor devoted to pictures taken in Lebanon and one floor of pictures taken in Israel. There is also a side gallery that showcases the work of several photographers that have submitted selections to other collections focused on (among other things) The Balkan Wars, The War in Iraq, The Women of Afghanistan and the Israel/Palestine conflict.
I'm not even sure what to say about this exhibit except that it totally moved me. I'd encourage you to check out the
website. An excerpt from their mission statement:
It is the intent of War Photo Limited to present to the public the reality of war, to expose the myth of war by focusing on how war inflicts injustices on innocents and combatants alike. We will work to make the disease of war understandable to the young, especially the intolerance, violence, and nationalistic idealisms that lead to conflict.
This exhibit was unlike anything I think I've seen before. The stories presented through the photos and the captions that went along with them were at turns heartbreaking, moving, and disturbing without feeling exploitative and with remarkably little carnage given the subject matter. There was no sense of "pointing fingers". Just... this is war, and this is terrible for all involved. I was brought to tears more times than I can count.
Peace and love. More soon....
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