Take a look through this 50-picture review of the decade in news photographs on The Big Picture, and you’ll notice a few things.

It is striking that selections like these don’t include images of human joy or celebration of life. (other than two images from the Olympics, but this isn’t something that everyday people can engage in-> They’re just another thing that we passively watch on TV.) The only images that have some true beauty are three NASA images, which are inspiring, but still unattainable perspectives for the average viewer.

You and I can’t win the olympics, nor can we walk on Mars. So instead we watch the media, and what does it tell us is important? Pain, destruction, pop stars. Take a good look at image #24 – ignore Paris Hilton, and instead pay attention to the pack of photographers. Why are they there? Is she really that important to you and I and our communities? Why does the media market so value this type of celebrity as to justify a pack of fifty photographers? Is this the type of stuff that I should strive to photograph?

Just as I was thinking about this, I saw this short video for Raj Patel’s new book. I met him in Florida earlier this year, and he’s pretty great. The video features a few of my images and has a great message; it’s well worth two minutes to watch it below.

There is a great deal of pain and hardship in the world. Many  journalists out there have undergone great hardship themselves to raise our awareness of the suffering of others, and this is valuable and important. It’s important that we know about it. But it’s even more important that we do things about it, that we cultivate alternatives and bring about positive change in the world.

When the general public watches the news, they see a choice: focus on the pain and act on it (this is *hard* for most people to do) or choose the alternative presented (the superficial pop stars, which are far less challenging to deal with) – so we have a lot of people who see stories of war and injustice and say “oh that’s horrible”, but then devote most of their brainpower to the celebrity idols to distract themselves.

What if we gave them other options?

Where are the images of joyous action, of real celebration, of engaged citizens? Are there none out there, or is it just that big media corporations are worried that it won’t sell? I believe that the media has a responsibility to tell good news alongside the bad. We need to hear stories of positive communities to inspire us.

There is joy amidst this pain. It is rarely reported on. It is rarely celebrated. But it is everywhere and there are millions of people who are aching for these stories, although they may not be conscious of it. Positive energy can be just as contagious (if not more) as negative energy. The media needs to start valuing it, so as to give their audiences some other choices, so that we can all move towards a better world.

Below’s a little animation from a recent joyous demonstration in Florida with a soundtrack by the amazing Son Del Centro. My goal for the new year is to do more of this; to devote more resources to my community projects, helping to celebrate the work of activists and artists, because even if the mainstream media doesn’t yet think that it’s very valuable, I do. I hope that you’ll join me in this in whatever way you can; let’s make 2010 a year for great positive change.

Remember, everyone is photogenic.

Happy new year,
xo,
-jj