Salgado Photo No. 1

Copyright Sebastio Salgado

This stark photo of refugees in Korem camp in Ethiopia simply makes me pause and look at the world with new eyes. The bleak, dusty terrain behind the refugees gives an overall impression of desolation and hardship, while the expressions on the faces of the people say what a thousand words couldn't. Ethiopia, one of the most underdeveloped countries in the world, has suffered quite a few famines in the last few decades. Most notably, Ethiopia suffered a terrible drought in the mid-1980's that left one million dead.

The child in the front of the picture especially moves me. The little face reminds me of my own sister, but never have I seen a look on my sister's face like the one of that child. I see on that face a look of resignation, of not knowing whether you would live to see another day. No face so fresh from God should ever have carry an expression. That children like the one in the front of the picture should know hardship that I can barely even imagine makes me acutely grateful for the secure life that my family leads.

Works Cited 

Almata, Mohammad A. "Relief Workers Fight Daily Battles at Famine Centers." Gadsen Times 25 Oct. 1984: C8. Google News. Web. 10 Jan. 2013. <http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1891&dat=19841025&id=oaMfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_tUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2720,4555608>. 

Singh, Sereena, and Shuhan Hu. "Famine in Ethiopia." World Information Transfer. World Information Transfer, 28 Jan. 2012. Web. 11 Jan. 2013. <http://worldinfo.org/2012/01/famine-in-ethiopia/>