Author: kesler

Photojournalism is covered on our PPT slides and the website: http://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/jul/28/gutted-photographers-who-didnt-help

Thank to Bec for her fantastic notes on our class discussion.

Bystanders

• As a journalist Fowler struggles to remain a bystander      and uninvolved within conflict. This shows that remaining unchanged is      really complex decision to make and there is a fine line between right      decision and a wrong one.
• It is impossible for bystanders and reporters – who      choose to be there to be- to remain uninvolved because by even being there      to report a story is to get involved in some way.
• Taking a photo means your not a bystander. You cant be      journalist a specific event and not be involved and have a point of view.

Power

• If there were no photos, society would not know action      was needed.
• Photojournalists are in a position of power even though      the photos they are taking are of people who are powerless at the time.
• In taking a photograph or reporting can be intervening      in the broader context.
• In making it visible to society, it is necessary for      change at a broader level.
• Photos mean issues are brought to the surface and that      people can become aware of the issues we have in the world.

 

Decisions

• Photographers need to find a balance between right decision for a specific individual and their safety and the right decision   for the future and society.
• No matter what decision is made, justification is always wanted.
• We make attempts to justify our choices, whether being bad or good.
• Decisions can be justified for the greater good and getting a message across, or for themselves and ensuring their personal  safety.
• No matter what we do,we are always gonna find right and wrong things from the moral choices we make in situations of conflict.
• Long term effects need to be considered
• Window scene, Fowler, wondering what is the right decision is to do.

 

London Riots

• Didn’t want to create more challenges and harm to the people so didn’t get involved and help.
• Their role is to document it and getting involved is not going to help anything because it is too complicated of an issue.
• You feel powerless, but the power you hold is in your job: to tell the story.”

Mob Attacks 

-“as a journalist, my reaction was fine, as a human being I felt I’d really let myself down.”

• Fowlers situation. He is a good journalist however he has inner self loathing for never getting involved or attempting to solve problems he may have been able to.

Foreign Environments

• Most of the time the reporters are traveling to a foreign country or environment to cover a story. It is because this place is so different from home that it can be harder to understand the situation and comprehend the roots of the conflict and why there is conflict there in the first place.
• Brought into situations where you don’t know how to react.
• Different cultures and countries and reporters are not  going to always understand how justice systems work in foreign countries

Pro-Hunting Protests

• Photojournalists are caught up in the moment of the chaos of the conflict that they can zone out what is actually happening, becoming oblivious to reality
• Because of the emotional intensity of the conflict and how confronted they are, it is easy to disconnect from reality
• “And they’ve got themselves into so much trouble.  Because they don’t know the situation or how things work. They have a  different culture, different views, different medication, and often in a situation like that you end up being more of a hindrance than a help.”
• Relate to Pyle      – Pyle has no idea what is going on in the large scale of Vietnam.
• As a photographer, you are intervening in on something you don’t understand.
• Whether anybody from any perspective can understand a conflict as a whole.
• Does anyone actually know what they are fighting for.
• Nobody is completely one side of conflict
• Photographer makes a choice not to become involved even though given pleas

York Harding(slide 27)

• How people are stuck in the theory and don’t have the practical knowledge
• Pyle knows the theory of the conflict, but nothing can prepare you for dealing with the intensity of the conflict.
• Pyle bases his knowledge off a secondary resource from a book.
• People attempting to intervene in a place and culture when they have no real knowledge of it.
• “Harding is a superior sort of journalist – they call them diplomatic correspondents. He gets hold of an idea and then alters every situation to fit the idea. Pyle came out here full of York Harding’s idea. Harding had been here once for a week on his  way from Bangkok to Tokyo. Pyle made the mistake of putting his idea into      practice. Harding wrote about a Third Force. “

Extra Ideas

• Photos are good as it helps victims remember the past
• What is seen as helping people?
• Easy to acuse photographer of doing nothing
• I became a photographer, not a person’
• Depends on the situation they are in and whether or not  they can remain impartial
• To be a good journalist you must remain impartial

History of Vietnam to assist in understanding of ‘The Quiet American’

In class we viewed:

to assist in our understanding of conflict in Vietnam.  Thanks to Steph Macdonald for the notes below.

Vietnam timeline:

Year	Important events
1885	Vietnam was part of French Indochina, Colonialism and Imperialism. They   wanted to fight for independence.
1941	Viet Minh (Communist) and Ho   Chi Minh.
1945	“Independence”
1946-1954	First Indochina war. US engage covertly in the Indochina War.   They became ‘advisors’ and provided economic and weapons assistance.
1954	Geneva conference of 1954 temporarily   partitioned South and North Vietnam, so they were able to ‘cool off’ and   recover.
1955-1963	Ngo Dinh Diem president of   South Vietnam. Ngo Dinh Diem was anti-communism. United States start   supporting the anti-communists during this period. This is the time the Viet   Cong was present. Ngo Dinh Diem was assassinated and Thieu and Ký take over   government.
1964	Gulf of Tonkin incident. In 1964 the USS   Maddox claimed to have been attacked by North Vietnamese boats. These   reported incidents resulted in passing the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which   gave America the ability to engage in war in Vietnam. Claimed that the USS Maddox was fired on. This gave USA and excuse to   enter conflict that they really shouldn’t be involved in – To help their own   interests.
1965	Nguyen Cao Ký and Nguyen Van Thieu in control.
1967	Thieu takes control of South Vietnam.
1968	Tet offensive and My Lai   massacre. The Tet offensive was a massive coordinated attack on various areas   in South Vietnam, it aimed to ‘turn the tides’ of the Vietnam and made the   American public suspicious. The My Lai Massacre was the unjustified massacre   of many Vietnamese civilians. Americans   domestically start to see the horrors of war and question US involvement.   Whether the US was ‘winning’ as they had been told.
1971	Pentagon papers were leaked to the New York   Times. They said that the military was lying to the American congress about   their activity in wars in both Vietnam and Laos & Cambodia.
1973	Paris Peace Accords. Under   Nixon control the Paris Peace Accords and officially there was peace between   the north, the South and the Americans. US   withdrawing and North Vietnam winning the War.
1975	Fall of Saigon. When the Americans left   Vietnam the North overtook the South, resulting in the fall of Saigon. Incredible loss of life. The Americans   perception the communism would spread if they did not stop it was proved   wrong.

 

1-3 million Vietnamese people were killed.

58,000 American Soldiers were killed.

This material covers key aspects of the Context study including assessment, The Quiet American and Supplementary Material we refer to in class.   Remember to also refer to The Quiet American page on the VCE English site for additional resources.

Link to Photojournalism: http://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/jul/28/gutted-photographers-who-didnt-help

 

In class we have examined some key scenes from The Quiet American to assist our exploration of conflict.  They are listed below and your group work analysing the scenes is available at this link.

Watch Tower: 86 – 89

Romantic Rivalry: pg. 122-25

Place Garnier: 151-155

The Moral Dilemma: 164-166

The Window: pg. 167-173

 

 

1)      Submit your intro, BP and conclusion that you should have handed in today. 

2)      Learn your quotes.  Use the chart https://docs.google.com/document/d/1M43aMTS35sz9Rv7_lpm7jjr6eTyK3FShxCQGloRzAlU/edit?usp=sharing along with our class notes and your own past essays to help you: Ensure you know quotes for (at absolute minimum 2 ‘victims’, 2 ‘stasi’, Berlin/Regime generally, Author intent.  If you don’t know your quotes, you won’t be able to perform well on the SAC

3)      Practise writing some body paragraphs under time.   I have provided a range of topic sentences.  This ensures you practise writing on a range of different ideas.  Plan them beforehand, then give yourself 20 minutes to write the paragraph.  You need to ensure you draw on multiple pieces of evidence from across the ‘chart’ to ensure you have a variety of evidence. It is worth revisiting these, even if you have already done these paragraphs to practise without notes.

• Funder observes both physical and emotional manifestations of the past trauma in Miriam and Julia.
• Many victims of the regime attempt to remain stoic (present a brave face), but Funder uncovers that their past decisions continue to haunt them. 
• The remnants of the Stasi regime continue to haunt the modern day city of Berlin. 
• The Stasi men were products of indoctrination which they retained long after the Wall fell.
• Despite the trauma many victims of the regime faced, many are able to come to terms with their experiences.
• Anna Funder displays a level of empathy for the Stasi victims which brings their suffering into greater focus.
• Through the nature of Funder’s interactions with the characters, the reader can observe the level of sympathy she has for their experiences.
• Funder’s description of the places significant to the Stasi paints a colourless and brutal picture of life in the GDR.

 

3) For as many essay topics as possible (topics available at: ) practise: thinking about the topic, writing a thoughtful contention, writing your topic sentences.  Give yourself 15 minutes max per topic. 

4) Write new essays or rewrite essays you have already written.

5) Reread key passages from Stasiland that you think you are likely to draw on in your essay. 

6) develop your ideas further by viewing/listening/reading material available on the StLink/in your booklet

Themes from The Quiet American

(Thanks to Ash for scribing)

• Vietnam’s conflict – communism
• Fowler’s personal, internal conflict- does he still consider Pile a friend? Or an enemy.
• Fowler- I don’t have a side “I only report the truth”. He was acting as a bystander- neutral in the happenings of Vietnam.  Ultimately, he had to choose a side.
• Phuong- she represents conflict. She is what Folwer and Pyle have conflict over.

We can see her as two things:

• the individual that pile and Fowler are fighting over
• see her as Vietnam- being fought over by America, France and Generals Thai. – represents so many Vietnamese women
• The only power Phuong has is her beauty- ironic as this is the cause of the conflict she faces.

 Vietnamese Women:

• Prostitution
• Mistress
• Taxi girl (dancing)
• The pinnacle option is finding someone like Pyle and Fowler for a Vietnamese women.

Journalism:

• When bombs going off at the end of the movie, reports trying to get the ‘best’ shot.
• What role should photographers and reporters have?
• Remain impartial to the situation? For how long can you remain a bystander and have no opinion about your surroundings.  Do we have to have an opinion?

Graham Greene’s viewpoint of America:

• Negative views
• Critical of the French with colonialism and of America trying to make Vietnam capitalist
• Cold War – battle of ideologies
• External countries will exploit the interests of other countries’ to fulfill their brief.