World Press Photo 2012.

Photojournalism makes us deal directly with powerful images: death, blood, cruelty; our finiteness and the weakness of our own flesh. Make it with crudity and without taboos through, only an image that impact us in many different ways. Even if the photojournalism addresses more topics, always this kind of image will affect us most than others.

World Press Photo is in charge of to put together the strongest and display them around the world. Always according with contingent issues, like environmental problems, murders and others, this sample always leaves us speechless.  Sometimes are issues of great controversy like the murder of Muammar Gadaffi and others related to gang wars in some problematic countries. Never let indifferent to us. 

Anyway, in the spectator born a contradiction against the work, for while the cruelty of the images still impressing us, sometimes the characters portrayed becomes an icon, it could be a tyrant or a mother suffering with her child dying in her arms, this image ironically reminiscent to Jesus, forgetting in that way the original condition of this work. Which are the limits, then, between aestheticize and make photojournalism? And in turn, which are the limits between the disease and the compromise in show the reality? This condition falls in the photographer, and many times is court by society, maybe for our own denial, for not be able to admit our mortality condition. Maybe an image can change our way to perceive us and our reality.

I choose this article because I am really interest in the problem of the limit of the art. I mean, when start to be art and where ends, considering sociocultural and otherproblems.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jun/17/world-press-photo-12-review

my job.

I feel that just staying with this career it is not enough. And  to my personal expectations and interest, as to can work later. Definitely it is inside of my plan to keep studying, but I don’t have clear if I could specialize in art theory or study something completely different, like photography or sociology. The hard thing is think in that I will have to start all over again from zero, such as I will back to finish high school, but then I think that I only have 21 years, and I really don’t want to fully insert in the labor world.

Anyway, I don’t have clear in what I will like to work. If I stay with my career, I will like to work in something related with cinema, like art direction. This is related with the aesthetics of a movie. This area always interested me, and I think I will not bore because it is always been a different job. The bad thing is the labor instability, because in this country there isn't a film industry who could develop so many works in constant way. To me, one important aspect to consider in a job could be, in first place, the labor environment, and also that could be consistent to my interests, such as human and content.

I think that my strengths are commitment, responsibility, respect for the others opinion, creativity and good disposition to find solutions to the problems that we could face it. Meanwhile, my weaknesses are that I could lose my patient when something seems to me unfair, or when it overstep the limits of respect. I feel that this could make lose the relationships in all ways, nay, in labour.

english lenguage.

I don’t really like English, but I have to admit that is the most important language actually. I prefer others, like Portuguese or French, but regrettably the English is the most popular and is very important to learn it because is a tool that might be useful for everything and everywhere. In my job for example, I have to relate with people for all countries, not only from United States or places with English speaking, also I have to talk with some people that speak languages totally unknown for me, like Turkish or French, and even if they don’t speak English as well, we can communicate through this language, sometimes, with very basic words. Is very funny because you can see the different pronunciation, I mean, is very difficult to understand a Chinese speaking English, even if he speak perfect this language. Sometimes is impossible to understand.

To me is very important this course, because I will have to use this language forever,
daily and if I want to apply for a scholarship application someday, I know that one of the fundamental requirements is speak English. Maybe depends of the country that I like to go, but personally I feel more secure when I have all the tools to make myself understood. One of those tools is writing, and I really believe that this blog is useful, because I can practice and getting better my ways of expressions.

I don’t have problems to understand English with people speak, but is very difficult to me to speak. I can perfectly understand when people talk to me, and I really can watch a movie, for example, without subtitles. But is very difficult to me to speak, it’s almost impossible. I don’t know why, maybe can be shame, but when I try to speak the words begin to disappear and starts the babble, like a child learning to speak. It’s horrible, but I have to work in it. I think that the better way to do it is very simple and difficult at the same time. I only have to overcome this absurd fear.

not guilty.

Is very difficult to me talk about guilty pleasures, because I don’t believe in that word. I mean, I also think that is the consequence of catholic teaching because in some way, they want to take us away of our feelings and emotions. I hardly believe that we can’t deny what make us feel curious, Oscar Wilde says: “The better way of get rid of the temptation is let oneself fall in it” and I think is right. When we deny or escape from something, soon or later, that “something” will back to us.. The curiosity is greater than the reason and they don’t always coincide.


So.. I don’t have any guilty pleasures. In fact, I know that many thinks that I like makes me bad, for examples, I LOVE muffins and trufas, but I try to eat only a few in some special moments. In general, I have a good relation with my pleasures, jaja. I think is good to relax sometimes and don’t worry for that kind of things. I know girls that are always making weight loss diet, and it’s terrible! Of course I prefer to lead a very healthy life, but live permanently worry about what you eat or not must be terrible!

I think this topic is very important, because is in our hands to make a real change. Probably we cannot change the world, but for sure we can make little different things to contribute. Is very sad see the damage that we cause, most of the time we don’t take into account that many of the things we do are terrible for the environment and that most of those are irreversible.  Become aware of this is fundamental, we cannot continue living in this way, because is a damage to us and to the next generations.  I know is not easy change our daily routine, is necessary to get involved, promise to some ideas and put oneself at risk sometimes.

For example, I have many vegan friends. I comprehend and share they ideas, because I’m not agree with any form of slavery, independent of the intentionally. The life of animals doesn’t have to be dependent of our needs. I think is very unfair, don’t you? But sincerely, is extremely difficult to me to follow all the rules of veganism. I really admire them. In my house we try to buy only organic food, drink purify water and herbal infusions instead of Coca Cola or something like that. We usually don’t eat meat, only fish. In general, we change our diet to have a healthy life.

Also, with some friends decided to create an NGO that promotes the self-sustaining life. For example, to create our own energy and not depend of big industries that contaminates indiscriminately with the excuse of giving energy. Is important to know that are other possibilities with less environmental impact and equally effective.

Teresa.

Is difficult to me to choose only one artist, because every day I wake up with different feelings and thoughts, so the way that a work of art affects me can change constantly. But without a doubt, there are many artists who are important to me, because, in some way, I was deeply marked by they work… Since photographers, writers, musicians, painters, etc.

One person that is very important to me is Teresa Wilms Montt. Many years ago, when I read one of her poems for first time I feel interested immediately. The way that she wrote, her feelings and her dramatically life are a strange mix of things that makes her a very interesting figure.

Teresa was born in the beginning of 20 century in a wealthy family. She is considered a feminist and anarchist writer. Always very unruly, in spite of her good education agreed to the society values and the high society protocol. She spoke about sexuality, death, love, freedom, sadness and eroticism in the wrong time, maybe. The Chilean society was very small to her; too conservative and limited.

“It’s my diary. It’s me, embarrassingly naked, rebel against the establish. Great between the small, small between the infinity… It’s me.”

A couple years ago, a chilean filmmaker made a movie about Teresa. But I think its impossible shows her intensity, I recommended read her poems. 

Simone.

  

One of my favorite artists is Simone de Beauvoir, who was an feminist intellectual, existencialist philosopher writer, political activist, feminist and social theorist. Apart from her text about philosophy, Simone didn’t consider herself a philosopher; her work cover topics like literary creation, the progress of left-wing politics before and after de Second War, and about the pain and the perception of the “self”. Her novels and essays are considerer biographic work, a lot of them describe her life with Jean Paul Sartre and the way that they perceived the love and how they lived consider that. Other works are an exhaustive analysis about the play of women and the construction of her role in society, focus in the marginalization that they were victims in those years.  Her work is extremely revealing in her life and epoch. She was very intelligent, and courageous, because has to disassociate oneself from her family, religion and the social rules that was impose. To me, Simone is one of the most important figures because I admire her and share many of her ideas.

“The man is not a rock and neither a plant, and he cannot excuse oneself for his mere present in the world. The man is a man only because his negation of being passive, for the impulse that project him since the present to the future and direct him to thinks with the purpose of dominate and give them form. For the man, exist mean restructure the existence. Live is the willpower of live.” Simone de Beauvoir.