The tensions inherent in the public representation of complex issues Essay

The tensions inherent in the public representation of complex issues - Essay Example The newspapers, television channels and the internet were filled with various speculations about the incident. As usual the inefficiency of the government was criticized heavily. The lack of transparency in the Malaysian governments operation, their subdued efforts to keep the relatives of the missing informed and the lack of any guaranteed report about hijack or crash fueled the media wheels effortlessly. They represented the issue as if it was the sole mistake of the Malaysian government. The frustrated relatives of the missing people were shown mourning constantly in every TV channel. The issue was represented in such a way flight travel in South Asian countries is risky, as the governments there function passively and are non-transparent. The discretion of President Razak in handling the issue with the domestic means he had and his timely decision to use the help from Australia, a country quite near the crash site rather than the US situated on the other half of the world, went unmentioned in nearly all the reports. As John Berger (1972) mentions, "what the modern means of reproduction have done is to destroy the authority". The international media reproduction about a flight crash simply crushed the image of a well developed country into that of a poor backward country without any authorization of proof. The influences of such representation were so high, that even the stock market of the country underwent a great blow. The way the issue was represented in the international media was absolutely partial and judgmental. The media highly overshadowed the diplomatic efforts taken by the Malaysian government to search for the flight on a multinational level, highlighting its efforts to decline help from the US government. This led to the extent of the US President Obama reconsidering his trip to Malaysia due to security reasons. Several rumors about a couple of people travelling

Face Of Our Time Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Face Of Our Time - Research Paper Example Similarly, Muholi portrays visually, the identity of the black people that are mostly segregated in her home country - South Africa. Aue Sobol gives a combination of observations that are experienced by hunting culture of the rural community in the Arctic Village with portraits that show intimacy of Sabine, his girlfriend. Finally, Misrach give pictures of the graffiti that were left behind immediately after the Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. This paper is going to highlight the common interests that the five photographers had in depicting the actual look of the global happenings and phenomena, as well as what instructed and resonated me. The photographs paint the real picture of the world as it is. The photographs showing situation as it is. The exhibition â€Å"Face of Our Time† is introduced by neatly done picture of an African woman staring at the photographer while her lips are pursed seems to be upset. Her eyes are not clearly seen since they are under some shade, hen ce making it almost impossible to clearly figure out her actual state, or even her real self. However, her mode of living is overtly written on her photograph â€Å"I am a whore† (Curiel). ... It is imperative to note that the photographs are of real people of the world who are in dire need of help. Furthermore, the photographers have mixed feelings about their own photographs. Surprisingly, these photographers are always perturbed by the situation around the globe and they normally take these pictures in order to enlighten the world about certain conditions. The photographers have premonitions that they go against other people’s rights when they take such pictures. Therefore, they tend to think it is not a good idea to photograph volatile political and economic situations. For instance, Goldberg remarks that he is frightened to take pictures because he tends to feel that he is violating people’s rights. He informed the various individuals who came to hear him during the SFOMOMA exhibition that he is afraid to go into the world to take pictures (Curiel). He covers long distances to Africa from San Francisco and actively allows his subjects to participate in h is work by giving them opportunities to write on his otherwise Polaroid pictures. Notably, Goldberg took photographs of the prostitute and a Senegalese farmer who aspired to illegally migrate to Europe due to adverse economic situation in Senegal. The farmer did not get the opportunity to travel to Europe for better economic situation; he ended up landing in Libya and worked as a forced laborer. The photograph depicts a farmer herding his flock in a street full of garbage in Senegal. His experiences are narrated in the horizon. However, even though Goldberg thinks he violates other people’s rights, these people he photographed autographed his pictures, thus showing they allowed