STOP THE ARMS TRADE Photo

Photographer’s Note

Today is a very different shot... a demonstration was held outside the University of Manchester Students' Union (UMSU) protesting against the University holding £1.2m of shares in companies dealing in arms. This is another part of the recent battle against the arms trade, headed up by Oxfam.

I have been taking "mug shots" of volunteers who wish to be numbered among a target one million people who are against the arms trade. Oxfam do not expect to totally stop the trade, but hope to promote ethical behaviour and try and encourage the government to allow arms deals only with countries that are considered "safe". By this I mean countries that are not arming child fighters, countries that on the defensive instead of the attack, countries that have good human rights records, and so on.

However, while I believe that an introduction of ethics into the trade is important, I am a little critical of exactly what benefit will come from my university selling their shares in such companies. Will this have an effect on the lives lost? Honestly... I don't think so...

syd1946, ballyna, Dimis, dolin, Doraemon, cjmm, eleparc, rowanb has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

syd1946 (17913) 2006-02-15 14:04

Hello Lewis,
Excellent photoreport,great note!

Thomas

ballyna (1689) 2006-02-15 14:16

lewis,
great compo and great idea.narrow DOF works well and choosing stairs for a backplan here is genius I think.
regards

shangri-la (353) 2006-02-15 14:25

good shot, very expressive message!
;-)

dolin (15647) 2006-02-15 15:50

Hi Lewis.
Une compo forte et bien pensée.
Le focus sur cette affiche et le léger flou sur l'arrière et ces lignes formées par les escaliers....parfait.
Une image qui tape...bien joué
Congratulations for the idea and the compo.
Fred

arindam_thokder (3946) 2006-02-15 18:30

Hello Lewis,

Very good Documentary picture, I really enjoy this kind of pictures with a strong message. TE has more than 100 pictures like this "divide the frame in half with a wall in one side". So technically nothing new here, but the content really made this diff than any other pictures here.

Thanks for sharing.

Arindam

vagabondtravels (6115) 2006-02-15 20:40

Great documentary picture. Strong message. The blood stands out. Have you looked at it in b&w?

RandomCameraGuy (3063) 2006-02-16 10:22

This is a very cool shot. Great choice to focus on the sign and keep the "dead" in the background. This unconventional compositional choice lends power to your shot. Nice.

rbcy1974 (20742) 2006-02-16 10:24

Hello LEwis
Excellent reporter style photo,
great use of DOF,
very well done
regards
Daniel

Doraemon (577) 2006-02-16 14:44

Hello Lewis,
This photo has a strong impact. Thanks to the bleeding guys in this background, the message of the poster is well understood by us.
Congratulations, thanks for sharing,
Fan

cjmm (4019) 2006-02-16 16:01

Hi Lewis,

Great testimonial photo!

I like very much how you used the DOF, giving priority to the message, while retaining strong attention because of the red on white shirts of the people.

Great work!
Thanks and best regards,
Carlos

eleparc (24059) 2006-02-19 8:24

Hi lewis! your photo seems to imply it is too late now... is that true? if i were american i would gladly give a hand to be one of the shot people demonstrating against this insanity of arm deals, including the right of detaining a gun at home...

Unfortunately, i ran dry today, but you'll see me soon again.

as for the photo your choice of POV is making its point ! clever and impactful shot that could easily be used for an advert for this cause

AmiBe (6042) 2006-02-24 9:50

Hi Lewis,
good picture with a strong message.
Well composed with a good DOF.
Well seen

rowanb (864) 2006-03-14 21:57