A Bridge or a Wall

When I was a kid watching the news, I used to think that no matter how bad the story, just knowing it was on TV was calming. I used to think "well at least those guys getting the story can help". As my understanding grew, my comforting thought started to change to "well at least those guys getting the story can survive". Now I wonder at the stories that can't be told because conditions are just too dangerously volatile. There are also many stories that aren't being told simply because, for whatever reason, there's no-one interested in them. Every day.

Recently I talked to a friend of mine at our photo club. We both want to start pushing the boundaries of what photography can mean. The club has been great at teaching us the essentials of photography, but somehow there's something lacking in just using the camera to capture pretty flowers and smiling children (I stagger under the immensity of the brush I'm swinging, but you get my drift).

We're going to start encouraging each other to develop a solid story, or come up with a humanitarian issue to address. If it turns out that we find a common goal, we may even team up. But at this point it's encouraging that I've found someone to push me to use the camera as a tool to passionately engage rather than just impartially observe.