Saturday 24 August 2013

Death, despair and pain

About a month ago, I was given media tix to the World Press Photo Exhibition. Every weekend since we've intended going, and every weekend since work has nudged it down the list of priorities.

I realised with a start that it closes tomorrow so this afternoon we ran down to see it. Amazeballs subjects and composition and lighting and all those other nouns that are the holy grail of photography. Me, I'm a words rather than a visual person, so I'm not looking for the technical aspects but rather for images that move me in some way. Conclusion? Without the bloody and vicious conflicts everywhere from Syria to Afghanistan, this exhibition would be about a quarter of its size. More proof, as if it were needed, of humankind's capacity for cruelty, arrogance, violence and manipulation. As the Animator said, it might be stunning but it's not the happiest exhibition in the world. Is it any wonder I prefer animals to humans?

Fortunately, the human race redeemed itself slightly this morning in an interview with one of the country's leading costume designers I did for a national magazine. She was intelligent, creative and wise - and after some gentle prodding, shared stories about dressing everyone from Sigourney Weaver and Orlando Bloom to Tom Selleck.

There was a late curry for lunch (all the nicer when you don't have to cook it yourself) and a desperate race to finish a feature I've fallen behind on. Tonight we're going to a house-warming at one of the neighbours (the nice ones, not the noisy ones). All of which qualifies as a Very Good Day.


(Pic credit: Wei Seng Chan, World Press Photo Exhibition)
   

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