SUNDAY VISION PICTURE A DISGRACE

A picture, they say can tell a thousand words. In the world of journalism in particular the newspaper industry, media practitioners make one hell of a killing just out of a well captured picture. In Africa the picture that sells the most is that of starving skeletal bodies in war zones. In the western media, Africa will be portrayed through the lenses of children with severed limbs or pencil-thin malnourished children who portray the inhabitants of a country gripped by famine. Photography of this kind is always an excellent means of portraying Africa as a continent bestowed with horror and indeed a continent enriched with political quandary. Sadly, the temptation to tell Africa’s story, is often riddled with the overriding desire to ‘flavour’ it with that sad stereotypical angle.