TWENTYSOMETHING by Ishi Dinim

There is a lot to think about right now and so many places to put my attention. The summer is swirling past and I’m trying not to lose track of time in the darkroom of my mind.
Photography is a lot like life. Point a camera somewhere and something happens. A photo can be sharp, blurry, or both, in parts. Multiple processes achieve negative, positive, chemical and digital results. There are images that will only ever happen quickly and once, and others that you can render repeatedly at your leisure.
There are situations where I want to represent an essential moment in a photograph. That moment requires numerous considerations, calculations and a bit of luck. Sometimes the end result is less than I had desired, just the way I’d imagined it, or even better than I’d hoped.
What I’m getting at is – the way we can affect an image is similar to how we create our life. Sometimes, skill and hard work are needed; at other times, accident and luck are the right recipe.
In turn with this notion that focusing our attentions can create the picture of what we want our lives to be, I also believe that images have the ability to transform our lives and history; indelible pictures from the Holocaust, Vietnam, 9/11, Iraq and reproductions of a Mohammed cartoon have changed the course of human history.
Just as we can’t entirely know what kind of picture will be created, the effect that an image will have can’t be predicted. The people who photographed Kim Phúc and Abu Ghraib could never have dreamed of the response the world would have to these images.
We will continue to create photographs that examine our human condition, and those representations will continue to shape our lives.
I was going through photos of my trip to Israel and saw the Bahá’í Temple and Gardens in Haifa; it is truly one of the most beautiful places on Earth. At the time of this writing, Haifa is being hit with rockets. It would be so very sad indeed if this most recent fighting damaged such a holy, peaceful place. I’m not Bahá’í, but seeing the terraces or temple scarred would pain me greatly. It occurred to me that this idea was shallow as I surfed over pictures of children killed by this conflict. The gardens do demand protection, but so should lives.
What gets lost in times like these are the other important causes in the world. We need to have the capacity to deal with the horrors of warfare and also remember the environment. Long after all the people who are fighting and dying are gone, their relatives will have to inherit what is left. Hopefully, they’ll inherit more than just a photo album.

Quotes:
Clearly the trick in life is to die young as late as possible.
– Rev. William Sloane Coffin, Credo

Even if you win the rat race, you’re still a rat.
– Rev. William Sloane Coffin

Documentaries:
Hearts and Minds

Scared Sacred

Web:
www.ashesandsnow.org/

www.giftsfilms.com/media/CPNPrepRelease.pdf
(Very timely global/local events)

http://creativepeacenetwork.ca/
www.croptrust.org/main/

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-869183917758574879
(In case you missed Steven Colbert at his finest)
http://donswaim.com/nytimes.sontag.html

PS: I really want to encourage everyone to check out a very wonderful one-night-only premiere screening of Peace it Together 2006: Reel Perspectives by Palestinian, Israeli and Canadian Youth. The event, hosted by the Creative Peace Network Society, offers seven films about the Middle East conflict as seen through the lenses of 30 young people. The films are the result of a two-week program on Galiano Island called Peace it Together, where young folks from Israel, Palestine and Canada come together to build trust and create a series of short films. If you’re around, check out this wonderful local and global peace-building event. Screening: Aug 20, 7pm, Stanley Theatre, 2750 Granville St. Tickets $15, Ticketmaster, 604-280-4444, www.ticketmaster.ca or through box office, 604-687-1644. Email
info@creativepeacenetwork.ca
Ishi graduated from Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in 2001, with a BFA major in photography. He makes films, collects cacti and ponders many things. Currently, he is trying to figure out what to do with the rest his life. contactishi@yahoo.ca

Waiting to hear echoes back –