War P(hoto)ornography

War pornography(photography)

There are a lot of photographers in the world working with NGO's, agencies or freelance who go to 3rd world countries to take photograph. Let's give an example, Somalia, it is east African country, it has really rich land. Somalia have really big amount of underground treasure. But there is a hunger, drought and civil war against radical groups and pirates. Somalian people cannot use natural riches because of all these conflicts. As underground treasure Somalia has petrol, diamond and fish. Somalia's sea is the one of the best location for fishing all around the world. Japanese and Norwegian fishermen come to Somalia for fish. On the other hand Gulf of Aden has also one of the busiest ship traffic in the world. And local Somalians have no right on their lands and sees. Turkey, France, Russia, USA, China, India, Japan they have big companies in Somalia.

In 2011 Somalian government had urgent call for help Somalian people because of the drought disaster from other countries. This invitation created reaction all around the world, people started to send money to small African country via NGO's, WHO (World Health Organisation), UN. Photographers went there for photo-shoot, agencies started to publish children photos who is starving, dry lands, dead animals. Donations percentage increased after this news. Donations were a lot but we do not know how much of that reached to Somalians. Because this situation still goes on, yeah it can be say that it is better that old.

Becoming object of photographers, When photographers go to this type of countries for assignments for NGO's, Agencies they earn more money than normal assignments. It is becoming like going there for treasure. Most of them don't interest with people's situations cause they say, this is our job and we need to do it, we cannot help you, we are not here to help but maybe this pictures that I am taking right now will help you, it is also not going to help them. There is no difference between photographers and big companies that are coming for money to Africa. Although few of photographers not think like that, most of photographers are thinking like this. If we investigate photographer’s attitude when they are in African countries or 3rd world countries, people are becoming their object which they can consume and earn money from it. They don't ask to people how do you feel, how are you. Photographers just take photograph and leave there and earn money and don't think about them anymore. Perhaps, some of them have pain about it seeing this but it doesn't take too long. They also getting use to see this situations. But in my opinion we are responsible for what we show to people as a human. Because when you started to seeing this type of violence images, your feeling getting used to it and you feel nothing about seeing pictures like that. It is becoming pornography, feeling nothing about it. On the other hand in this issue big contest are also responsible about this type of pictures, if you check the Pulitzer, World Press Photo every year the photographs, which show best violence, get the awards. For photographers, it can be understandable to front to this type of violence images because these big contests determine the way of the press photographers for that year. Last few years, around fifty photo-journalist died during conflicts. Big contests encourage photographers to visit this war-zones, disasters.

Mediating of horrible conditions and feeling bad about seeing them helping people then you feel like you did good thing for starving children. But if look deeply to these situations big companies destroy these countries consuming their natural resources with one hand but they also looking like trying to help starving children. But it is quite obvious because of the big companies they are poverty, local laborer work 15 hours in a day they just earn 4 dollars in a month. When people's situation are getting worse big companies make urgent call for help to the world via their TV's, newspaper, writers, NGO's. It is like big companies destroying with right hand and building with left hand as Zizek said. And people starting to donate money to feel good about what they did, but they don't know, big companies made these urgent-call for to feed their workers to use them more because if they died they cannot find someone. It is becoming loop, circle. And this is cultural ecological capitalism. These are new ways of helping, destroying, consuming. I watched a video recently; it is about cacao workers in Congo, they have no idea about what they collect from lands. In the video they taste chocolate. It is a really strange video; it is also alienation to your job and to your environment.

NGO's have relations with big companies from donation side but the relation is other hand of big companies, repairing and building side. Doctors who work for NGO's, not all of them but for some of them I could say there is no difference between big companies which is coming to third world countries to economize their natural resources to earn money. If doctors accept to go to third world countries they earn a lot of money that normal. They are also earning money using poverty people.

Banner issue, Most of NGO's documenting disbursement of aid with banner, it is like we were here. The people who is getting help from them are becoming their object that they can use them for later may for ads or in newspaper, magazine. But it is really insulting to make pose like "I am happy that I got this small piece of bread, thank you."

This is a huge circle between big brothers of the world. We are all part of it. It is quite hard to break the chain, it is not impossible but if we want to change something about this circle, we need to start from ourselves and criticizing it and start from our attitudes to the environment that we live in then we can start from the world.