Nachtwey Wakes the World with Black and White Photographs

Photographers go to the extreme edges of human experience to show people what’s going on. They believe your opinions and your influence matter. They aim their pictures at your best instincts: generosity, a sense of right and wrong, the ability and the willingness to identify with others, the refusal to accept the unacceptable.
I have been a witness and these photos are my testimony.
---James Nachtwey

I don’t want to say how good and striking those photographs are and I don’t even want to say they are any sort of arts. That’s life, not any presentation of stylish arts.
I just want to say something about the developing countries from a perspective of people coming from one of the developing countries.
It’s hard to believe or even to imagine such tragedies could happen in the seemingly flawless world. We have spent so much time considering how we are going to use our salary that we overlook there are people like us suffering in another corner of the world. Jack Nachtwey had spent his salary on his trip to several developing countries. He documented how people there suffer from XDR-TB epidemic. Black and white pictures are indeed powerful. The communication channel is unique. Unlike language, picture is more straightforward and stimulating. Better than any color, black and white displays the bloody truth and calls for the deepest compassion from people.
In those pictures we can see the desire for surviving and hopelessness for it at the same time. You can see people struggling between trying and giving in. Developing countries become powerless when they are faced with such life-threatening issues. Take SARS as an example. China had tried its best to control the situation while it received all the blame and suspicion from other counties and institutions. It’s true that developing countries lack effective measures to protect the people but it’s also notable that developing countries are not the one to blame but to be helped. Or else why we need any international organization like UN and WHO?
I might be a little too extreme on this issue though. My intention is to arouse people’s attention that when you help people in developing countries, don’t think you’re helping people from developing countries, rather, you’re helping your friends. We are sharing the same habitat.
I appreciate what James Nachtwey has done. It’s a fantastic job which requires contribution and courage. Waking the world is not simple work, and calling for action is even harder. Tell someone there’s a serious disease like this in the world. It is a big deal.