Still Waiting

When I'm thirsty, what do I do? I get up off of my comfortable couch and get a glass of ice cold milk, juice, soda-pop, or water. I can just turn my faucet on and have cold water. Whe I'm dirty I just go back and take a shower. I have plenty of hot water at my disposition to clean myself off. I really never have to worry about the lack of water.

Unfortunately, these Rwandan refugees are all about waiting. They have to wait for everything: medical assistance, food, water, supplies to build a shelter. Life is hard. As they are waiting they see people suffering and dying with the constant thought in the back of their minds of when IT will happen to them. Unfortunately the meager conditions drive some to live a life of crime; they start to steal and re-sell those items as a way of survival.

The bottom picture is of more Rwandan refugees in Zaire. The local watering holes and lakes that sustained their lives for so long have dried up and now they are forced to walk 12 miles to obtain the elixir of life.

Luckily, the situation in Africa has become a lot better since 1994 when the Rwandan Genocide happened. They are working towards peace every day and live well together nowadays. The refugees have resettled in Rwanda and are no longer living in these difficult situations.

Salgado, Sebastião. Photograph. 1996 Migrations: Humanity in Transition. 4 March 2010

Ilibagiza, Immaculee. Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust. Hay House, Inc. 2006

In 1994 one of the worst genocides in the history of the world happened in the African country of Rwanda. It's incredible how little was known about this terrible act when it was happening. The hate that entered into the hearts of the people in Rwanda caused almost one million deaths.

There where two tribes: the Hutu tribe (majority) and the Tutsi tribe (minority). The effects of a long time racial discrimination between the two tribe (cause by the Belgians) ended up in a bloody ethnic cleansing. The Hutu tribe attacked the the Tutsi tribe and murdered them. The Hutu's goal was to wipe the Tutsis off of the face of the earth. They murdered the old, the young, and everyone in between.

The horrific things that were happening in Rwanda forced many people to leave their homes and it created a lot of refugees. This picture is from a refugee camp in Zaire. The camps members either had to walk a really long way to get their water or wait in enormous lines to get water that the tank trucks brought in.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of people from Haiti that have been displaced from their homes because of the earthquake. They are now refugees because of the earthquake and will have to live in the meager conditions of refugees camps as well.

Salgado, Sebastião. Photograph. 1996 Migrations: Humanity in Transition. 18 Feb. 2010

Ilibagiza, Immaculee. Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust. Hay House, Inc. 2006

In 1991 a second Sudanese civil war broke out. This war proved to be one of the most deadliest (and longest) of the latter end of the 20th century. Ending in January of 2005 with a peace treaty, there was an estimated 1.9 million civilian casualties in this war. The situation didn't help with the continuation of new rebel groups forming during the war. Also Osama bin Laden and the Al Qaeda organization moved to Sudan during this time and Osama bin Laden supposedly organized some of his first terrorist attacks from Sudan.

The picture above is taken in the country of Kenya. The youth in this picture are Sudanese and they have been sent away by their own families. Why? Their families sent them away so that they would not be enlisted to fight in the civil war. The war got so ugly and long that they started recruiting teenagers to continue the fighting. These boys in the picture were living in these refugee camps, provided by the United Nations, to be able to ensure a longer life.

Although better than war, refugee camps are hardly comfortable. They are always over packed and a lot of the time are ridden with disease and pests. This also reminds me of something that we can do to remember and help the refugees from Haiti. We should always try and see what we can do to help them. A lot of the time, things that we do to help actually go to improve the conditions of the temporary living quarters that these people have to live in.


Salgado, Sebastião. Photograph. 1996 Migrations: Humanity in Transition. 11 Feb. 2010

Massacre de Eldorado dos Carajas

This picture is shocking. Why are there so many coffins in the back of this truck? All of these coffins were filled at Eldorado dos Carajas on April 17, 1996. This tiny little city in the northern state Pará of Brazil was receiving "help" from the government. The government relocated about 3000 families to a ranch to help them get started and earn money. The only problem was that this ranch was very unproductive and the workers didnt like it. They protested and during that protest 19 members of the Landless Workers Movement (MST) were gunned down by state military police.

It's remembered as a very dark day in Brazil and I think Salgado did a very good job of capturing how dark it was in this picture. There is hardly any light at all. There is enough to see the coffins but it was a dark time. I think it is horrific that there was something like that.

Personally, after living in Brazil for two years, I can see it happening though. They have a problem with a good number of police being corrupt and "loose cannons." They are trying to resolve the issue and hopefully they will do it soon. Recently, the President of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies gave a speech of this event calling it the "Massacre of Eldorado of the Carajas."

Its always tough to see this many people dead and it reminded me of a youtube video that I saw of Haiti a couple of weeks ago. Even though it wasn't a massacre at the hands of men it is still heart wrenching to see how many people have suffered so far and how many have died.

Salgado, Sebastião. Photograph. 1996 Migrations: Humanity in Transition. 28 Jan. 2010 .

Light. Joys of life. Bundles of Joy. Babies are the most pure and special human beings on the earth. They are so innocent and they love unconditionally. That's why this picture really catches the eye. So many babies! Why? How are there so many babies in just one little place?

Sebastião Salgado took this picture on top of a roof top of a FEBEM (Foundation for Child Welfare) center in Sao Paulo. This building is located in the Pacaembu district. This place is a refuge for abandoned babies. Thirty-five percent of the babies in this center were found on the streets, abandoned by the very person who gave them light. Others were given to the center by parents who could not provide for the child anymore.

It's supposed to be a shelter for children that have nowhere to go but, ten years later, these centers don't function like that anymore. In an article titled A Waste of Lives, Amnesty International describes the horrible conditions that the kids now live in. The centers are over crowded, understaffed and are the scenes of torture neglect. Created with good intentions, the FEBEM foundation has not been able to keep up with the amount of kids coming into it and unfortunately has broken down.

What are these babies in the picture going through right now? Have they escaped? Or, are they being tortured and neglected as we speak? In the recent tragedy that has hit Haiti, we can't help but think that there will be a lot of orphans. Adoption is the best bet but, if Haiti needs to create a foundation for the welfare of children, hopefully it doesn't end up like the foundation in Brazil.

Salgado, Sebastião. Photograph. 1996 Migrations: Humanity in Transition. 28 Jan. 2010 <http://pdngallery.com/legends/legends10/largephotos/gallery02_03.html>.

Amensty International. Article. Brazil A Waste of Lives. July 2000

Humanity in Transition. This picture displays it very well. Tragedy ridden, these people in the top picture look at what is left of what they have known. There is nothing alive or organized in their lives. It looks like that in the top picture that they are children looking in at the ruins. The structure looks like a blown up factory. Could it be that these children-recently orphaned-are looking in at the last place their parents were? Amidst all the death and destruction they cling to each other because that is all they have. This photograph depicts the aftermaths of the Bosnian War in the city of Bihac. The war arrived in Bihac in 1994 and was under seige by the serbs until 1995. A good youtube video depicts the refugees of the city running away: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7ESBQhNZpU This city is ridden with mines and a lot of innocent people have lost limbs and lives, especially children. People that couldn't pay their pay out of the city or country were stuck to make make-shift homes out of destroyed buildings just like we see in the second photograph. It's interesting to note that the only people outside of the half-standing house are children. Why? The house is an obvious symbol of difficulties that have happened and they are trying to rebuild. It's not logical to think that the only inhabitants are the children though. A makeshift orphanage housing little children who will never see their parents again. Family ripped apart by natural disasters or human cruelty. Nonetheless, they are coping with life's difficulties, coming together and rebuilding and gathering up all the broken pieces. Although this picture is a couple of years old there is something very recent that we can relate to in our lives; the terrible crisis that has hit Haiti. Tens of thousands have lost their homes, their parents, their families and they are in the course of rebuilding with what they can find. How many orphans exist in Haiti now? Widows? There are thousands of people desperate for help in Haiti and in the rest of the world. How can you help?

Salgado, Sebastião. Photograph. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. Page 119

"Bosnian War." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 2010. Web 21 Jan. 2010.

"Bihac." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 2010. Web 28 Nov. 2009

Sebastião Salgado Introduction

I apologize for this blog being a couple hours late. Being sick isn't easy and its definitely hard to focus sometimes. :/
The purpose of this blog is to write about an artist and exam his pictures. To do that i would like to supply a little bit of background about him. His name is Sebastião Salgado. He is Brazilian and was born in 1944. After growing up he studied and became an economist; specifically for the International Coffee Organization. His hobby at the time was photography and later chose to abandon his career as an economist and became a photographer. After working for a couple of different companies he started his own in 1994 called Amazonas Images. He is known for his work in underdeveloped countries. We will be examining various images from his book Migrations: Humanity in Transition. For many of us, these photographs introduce us to a part of the world that we have only vaguely heard about and it's something that we should all be aware of. There are always people in need. This picture is just one example of many from his book. Sebastião Salgado has been named one of the most important photographers of the early 21st Century by Hal Gould.


Salgado, Sebastião. Photograph. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. Page 78.

Well, I will say, that this is a completely new experience for me. I always thought blogging was dumb and the only reason I have a blog now is for the class but I actually dont think it will be as bad as i though it would be. My name is Jeff and I'm 23 years old. I was born in New Jersey, I grew up in Cincinnati, and I now call Minnesota home along with my family. I really enjoy music along the lines of favorite bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Kooks, The Hush Sound and Muse. I also love playing sports, specifically baseball, golf and lacrosse. I also like to rock climb, scuba dive and snowboard. That's why I think that this picture relates to me and my life. I love a face paced life with lots of different things happening and I love the feel of an adrenaline rush. I'm generally a pretty happy person all around as well. That about it for now though!