As my last post discussed, I’m fascinated by the idea of what goes on behind the screen across the world. What is everyday life like, despite the media sensationalism and rhetoric focusing on the worst parts of any society? In my last post, I wrote about media representations of rape in the DRC, and how the overwhelming focus on sexual violence in the country can lend itself to stereotypical views of the country for those who have never been there.
Well, I just ran across a great article called “The DRC you don’t see in the news,” thanks to the incredible Roxanne. It addresses how life goes on and how life is…normal life in the DRC, too. Yes, violence exists and persists. But ultimately, people are living their everyday lives, as always. Have we completely lost sight of that? As Richard Stupart writes:
Normalcy is perhaps the most profound lesson of this place. Just how durable the fabric of human routine can be. Like the people who would do their chores in Sarajevo. The farmer who plants his maize as a political claim on the future.
Violence is temporary and overpowering, but in the fine details, and the long run, always loses in the face of daily life. The will of a community for stability.
Be sure to take a look at some of his photos of everyday life in the DRC as well. Here’s one:
On the same note, the news media focuses on Baghdad, Iraq as a place of bomb blasts, men with guns, and suicide attacks. We don’t hear about everyday life in Baghad, but this beautiful post in Guernica Mag, “Alive in Baghdad,” shows us what is really happening in the city’s streets when the international news media teams turn their gaze away.
Baghdadis have a startling vitality, as we noticed when we went to the theater and the audience wouldn’t stop cheering and clapping—although the show had yet to begin. Despite the sectarian violence of recent years, people wanted us to photograph them. “Show people in the West the other side,” they would say. “Show them Baghdad is more than the daily violence”.
Check out the photos in the article which truly illustrate that life goes on in Baghdad. There is life beyond the bombs and the rifles, and there is beauty and joy and sorrow and laughter, too. Here’s an awesome and beautiful compilation of the photos taken by Marieke Van Der Velden, from the Tumblr blog “Daily Life in Baghdad“:
Ultimately, life goes on. We have an obligation to recognize the human connections that bind us all – and to understand what goes on across the world when you turn away from the stereotypical and limiting media lens.
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