One of the greatest advantages of graphic images is using your own imagination to create some surreal and unique works of art to your own desire. We can thank Photoshop for that. On the other hand there are many surreal things in the world that we can’t even come close to imagining but exist outside of our knowledge. The best way to capture them is through photography.
I got a chance to visit the International Center of Photography this weekend and I must say it blew my mind away. Even though there were many amazing photographs from different photographers, the one that stood out the most for me was Susan Meiselas’s work. The exhibit was about history in Central America in the 70s and 80s. The set that stood out the most to me was the work on Nicaragua. The main focus was about the horrors of war and the devastating reality these people faced during that time. The photographs she took were just out of this world. It wasn’t just astounding but truly heart reckoning. Each photo was direct and graspable. The photos had great composition and style. Every one of them told a story and was able to pull you in. There were certain images that stood out to me. The first one was a photo of a corpse lying on a hillside. It was the aftermath of a bombing I believe. In the photo there was half of a man’s lower torso with a pair of jeans still intact. The gruesome part was that his upper torso was missing. His spine was laid out while still connected to the torso. Other parts of his arms were scattered around on the ground along with bones. I covered my mouth when I saw this photo. I was in disbelief. It was so surreal, like an image you would create on Photoshop, yet it was as real as the air we breathe.
The second image was of two young boys lying on the ground covered in their own blood. I couldn’t tell if they were dead or alive but the facial expression they had made me lost any hope of believing they survived. I don’t think as an artist I could picture what was in the photo. The reality of the photo was unreal to me. This is the reality of war. Innocent lives are taken and the destruction it creates is unrealistic yet it occurs everyday in the world whether we see it or not.
I felt what Meisela was trying to do through her work was to shed light to the world about the incidents that occurred to those who are oblivious to it as I was. As a learning photographer, I’m inspired to follow in such footsteps. There are things that not everyone can comprehend and I want to make it simple for those who don’t. I now feel that in creating imagery I must incorporate the relationship between real and unreal. I want to understand and learn about the things that go on around us.