Where are our Walker Evans?

Much has been written over the last few months about the lack of writers documenting the human impact of the financial crisis. The names most often brought out in these debates are Steinbeck and Orwell, two towering figures in the literary-documentary tradition against which no writers today justifiably compare.

But it occurred to me while walking around the Jeff Wall retrospective at the BOZAR in Brussels that, not only is it legitimate to question the dearth of literary chroniclers, we might also pause to consider the absence of photographers capturing the essence of the new great depression. Where are our Walker Evans? Where are our Cartier-Bressons?

The argument could be made, as it has about writers, that in the midst of the worst financial crisis in a generation, people don’t want to read, or see, their suffering reflected in their entertainment. The purpose, they argue, of literature and film and any other of the arts, is to take the consumer into the realms of fantasy not force them to wallow, to live, in their reality. This is a one-dimensional analysis. Surely, the job of an artist is to capture reality as well as help create it? And if, as is often said, the media set the agenda, then surely our writers and photographers are in a unique position to document the social and economic decline at the human level and give voice, shape and form to the suffering.

While many striking images have come out of Detroit, and there have been inevitable accusations of 'poverty porn', the new voyeurism, it may only be years from now that we come to rue the consequences of the suffering we chose to ignore.

Giving help and hope to children in need

From The Courier, Sept 2011: Safeguarding the rights of Ghanaian children is the preoccupation of Afrikids, a unique British charity which aims to put itself out of business through the development of sustainable enterprises.

Georgie Fienberg and Afrikids Ghana director, Nich Kumah

When Georgie Fienberg visited Ghana on a gap year fifteen years ago, she couldn’t have known the impact it would have on the rest of her life. Not just hers, but those of thousands of children in northern Ghana whose lives she would touch through the work of the charity she would create. Now, fifteen years later, Afrikids is a salvation for many young people who would otherwise be living without hope.

In 2001, Fienberg started Afrikids, a child rights organisation based in Ghana’s Upper East region. Inspired by the resourcefulness of those she met while travelling around the country, she felt compelled to do something. Contrary to the images shown on television of helpless natives, Fienberg found a creative and determined people who were making the best out of difficult circumstances.

Rather than go in and tell them how to do things, Fienberg worked with local people to help them improve on what they were already doing. In the process, she created an organisation which now employs 150 staff in Ghana with just a small, supporting team of four in London.

What distinguishes Afrikids from other development charities is its approach. It works to solve the root causes of children's problems, by improving community support services and by providing access to basic education and primary health care. “Our mission has always centred on children,” says Andy Thornton, Director of Afrikids UK. “We recognise that, in order to change the lives of children, you have to work with all of the surrounding factors. So we work very inclusively and holistically.”

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