Why didn’t he help them?
Have you ever wondered if photographers ever put down their cameras to help people in need or just snap away in striving for a strong image?
I called in to see “Extraordinary Women: Images of Courage, Endurance and Defiance” in the breathtaking setting of Chester Cathedral. A selection of photographs by the late Tom Stoddart (1953-2021), an award-winning photojournalist who covered many conflicts and historic moments around the world.
The photographs are powerful and thought-provoking and one image in particular caught my attention. A photograph of a paralysed woman sheltering under plastic sheeting (above), her wheelchair behind her, probably her only possession and what looks like a refugee camp in the distance. She has been ethnically cleansed from her home in Kosovo.
I think it’s the composition that grabbed me. Tom filled his viewfinder with the three main points of the story—the woman, her wheelchair and the camp in the distance. He took a split second to arrange his composition to tell a story.
I tried to make sense of her situation as she stared back at me from under her make-shift shelter. I tried to imagine how Tom Stoddart felt as he lifted his camera to take the shot.
I asked my 11-year-old daughter what she thought of the image? What did she see? How did the photograph make her feel?
“Why didn’t he help them?” she replied.
She could see the woman in the photograph was in a bad situation and needed help. But my daughter’s first thought was about helping her. She answered me with a question I’m sure we have all asked ourselves—did the photographer help?
I explained to her the role of a photographer in situations like this. When certain things are happening in the world there needs to be a record. In this case, a photograph that can be shared across the world. The photograph can explain instantly a situation without words and inform the rest of the world that something bad is happening and something should be done about it.
I don’t think my answer satisfied her because she still wanted to know if the photographer helped the woman. I said I didn’t know but he couldn’t help all the people, there are too many. But he is helping them by showing his photograph around the world to raise awareness so we can all help.
I’ve thought about this over the past few days so I searched around to see if I could find out how Tom worked in such difficult situations. I found a video, ‘Famine War and Politics’ by Neale James. About 10 minutes into the video Tom talks about this very subject, his primary role as a human being followed by his role as a photographer. I played it to my daughter.
So back to my her initial reaction—to help. This surely answers why Tom Stoddart and other photojournalists and documentary photographers put themselves and their cameras in front of desperate people in dire need. Making photographs to make people think, it made my daughter question the situation and who knows, maybe to help.
The exhibition is at Chester Cathedral until Monday 11 July 2022. Admission is free (donation on entry).
