The Power of Images: How Pictures can Speak Louder than Words

In a community college English class, I was instructed to write an essay on the meanings that can be found in photographs. Our class was given images such as the Starving Sundanese Child Being Stalked by a Vulture (shown above) and asked to note, not only the technical aspects of the images, but also on how these techniques comment on current issues through their use of symbolism. It is because of this critical analysis that my love for photography grew as I began to understand that an image is often more persuasive than a written argument. There is a certain "realness" and emotion that can be found in photographs which essays do not possess. So instead of the normal tone of my posts, I thought it would be fitting to explore the world of photo blogs to investigate the basic element of a photographer/ cinematographer... The image.

Here on the internet, there is no shortage of photography. Professionals and ameteurs alike use the web to get their voice out into the public eye. Using Technorati, a search engine for blogs, I was able to narrow my search and find two excellent sites that exhibit the qualities mentioned above. The first, Beirut Daily Photo, offers a different perspective on the effects of war (Click here for my comments on the page). The second, Barcelona Daily Photo, shows how technique in shooting an image can determine peoples standpoint on a issue (like propaganda...Click here for my comments on the page).

Both of the sites did not allow for hypertextual links on their comment pages so here are some refeneces that might be useful:

Raad 2
Current War Images of Hate