Following a link for Aid Watch, I read this article with interest:
The World Bank has apologized for displaying damning images of Ghana at its recent annual meeting in Washington DC. Some of the pictures have half-naked women breastfeeding their kids and portray a country high on poverty levels.
A journalist with the Daily Guide newspaper intercepted the images while covering the conference. He told Joy News the World Bank portrayed Ghana as a country full of hungry and miserable people. But the World Bank said the images are old and weren't meant to tarnish the image of the country.
The Country Director of the World Bank, Ishac Diwan, explained that the Bank's photo library was linked to a website that was available to delegates attending the conference and the reporter saw the photos because of that linkage. He commended the Daily Guide reporter for his observation and "for alerting us that such photos were on our website." He said some of the pictures were 20 to 30 years old, indecent and should not have been displayed on the Bank's website.
"We completely agree that they are offensive, and they prolong the kind of stereotypes that are really far from the reality and very much at odds with the image of Ghana that we want to project at the World Bank," he said. "I want to offer our apologies to Ghanaians and we very much regret any harm that has been done to Ghana's image," Mr Diwan stated.
I spend a lot of time thinking about how institutions and media outlets choose to represent Africa. For the most part, I actually think it's not as bad as some people make it out to be. Photos of starving children are no longer in vogue and fill the pages of newspapers and annual reports far less frequently than they used to. And what's more is that there's tons and tons of great photography being done as we speak. Archives will continue to be filled with old photos that reflect a different ethos of looking. But as photographers explore and find new ways to portray this vast continent, I'd like to think that these images really are becoming more and more a thing of the past.*
Readers: These opinions are based on spending a lot of time looking at obscure photo outlets and websites in addition to the mainstream, and actively seeking out images that aren't stereotypical, but what do you guys think about this? Are the image tides turning? Have you seen recent images that make you angry? or how about some thoughtful ones that made you ask a question? I'd love to see links and hear your take on this.
And, to get this conversation started, here are a couple of examples of great work that have been recognized by the photo-powers-that-be recently:
- Peter di Campo's series Living without Lights won the International Photography Award
- A beautiful series of portraits called Ghosts of the Sahara by Andrew McConnell has been widely published and received many accolades
- One of Joan Bardeletti's photos from his project on middle class Africa won a World Press award
*There will always be exceptions to this.
