The Good and Bad of Seamus Murphy

Convergence Confab
I viewed the first-place photo shoot in the the World Understanding category, which was shot by Seamus Murphy and entitled "Afghanistan's Search for Peace." Several things caught my attention while going through this 40-picture collection. Murphy has a very distinct style that runs through virtually all of his prints, which includes a lot of negative space and mainly shadowy people. None of the photos are particularly sharp.

One of the things I enjoyed about the collection was its inclusiveness. The photos ranged from frightening shots of children in bombed-out villages, to people doing daily tasks, to photos of the military. It drove home the point that although the country is at war, there is still more to life than air raids and terror. I also appreciated the lenghty captions included with the photos. These captions told small stories about the events being portrayed and gave context to the collection. Through the captions, the audience learns about the history of the Taliban, the brave leader of the anti-Taliban group who was assassinated just prior to 9-11, and the woman who was the only female candidate for Afghanistan's presidency. These captions help the viewer understand the current political and social situation these photos were shot in.

Although I liked the collection overall, I found some points to be less than satisfactory. For instance, one shot contains a fairly close up image of dead bodies lying on a road. The shot seems a little tasteless, since it is not necessary to see the deceased Afghanistan citizens to know they exist. I personally found this photo a bit vulgar, particularly since you could clearly make out their faces. Another issue I had with the collection was the use of the term "Islamic fundamentalist" in reference to a man who killed an anti-Taliban leader. This term is actually illogical, since a true "fundamentalist" of a religion follows the faith's teachings to a T, and the Quaran preaches moderation and tolerance, not war. Therefore, this term is really incorrect and deemed offensive by many
Islams.