Assignment #24: TED Talk:

In his TED Talk, David Griffin, talks on overall the standards that photo journalists have and the lengths they have gone to in order to capture photographs. He talks about specific photographic journalists for National Geographic and the untraditional ways they have told stories through their images. One of the best stories that Griffin told during his TED talk was of a journalist who traveled to Chad to photograph a small animal reserve, with a large elephant population threatened by poachers. After the photographer began following the matriarch of the herd for weeks he discovered her and 20 other members of her herd slaughtered for their ivory. Capturing her beauty alive, her innocence when slaughtered, and her reign when the park rangers retrieved her stolen ivory, depicted her unique photographic story in her habitat. 

David Griffin made a point about individuality and original depiction of relevant ideas and issues. For example, when on assignment an underwater photographer and photojournalist were paired together and told an untold perspective of overfishing, makeshift fish markets, and accidental catching in the ocean.  The story, as described by Griffin, was unique and was told with a fresh unseen perspective reaching dangerous levels such as photographs from the bottom of the ocean. Griffin's explanation of the importance of unique and individual storytelling, I believe, is important because everyone looks at things differently, so even if something has "already been" captured someone new can come along and create a beautiful new image.

This TED Talk allowed me to see how photographs can tell a story, just like our triptychs did. Also, I realized that images can, even if they are a snapshot, can tell a person's, culture's, animal's, or anything's whole story. In the talk Griffin also mentions how; yes every photographer has their own opinion of everything, but every viewer has their own view and they all resonate and connect differently to the image.  Griffin uses a story about him and his son at the beach in order to explain how both of them saw Griffin in a separate light, as both a hero and a parent. This depicts the representation of different views and can spark different opinions on images, ideas, and topics. I think this might be why some art is so controversial- because of the many ways people view them based on their own experiences.