This collection of photographs takes us to the very
heart of the worst, war torn and famine stricken regions of the world
over the past decade - Sudan, Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Uganda, Zaire,
Rwanda. In short, places now synonymous with death, misery and despair.
And bearing that in mind it therefore comes as a bit of a surprise to
discover here some of the most sublime pictures you could ever hope to
come across.
A hawk soaring above a beautiful, tree infested, alpine place which could
easily pass for Eden, a loner crossing a vast volcanic landscape at the
foot of the Ethiopian Highland, graceful water carriers walking past a
lone Beckett-like tree. And people - tall, svelte Ethiopians, noble Sudanese,
lithe, proud Africans. Faces too, some smiling, some sad, some almost
forgiving, all strangely devoid of anger. I say, 'strangely,' because
besides the sublime there is also of course the grotesque. A child lying
abandoned like a rag doll amidst the burnt out debris, a sad eyed man
on a bus passively holding on to his dead wife, dead bodies scattered
on a hilltop, dead bodies scooped up by a bulldozer like wastepaper, a
beautiful boy clinging to what looks like the stump of an old washline
which at first glance almost symbolically resembles a sort of snapped
off crucifix. In other words heartbreaking images that make you want to
turn away. |
African Shadows was published in 1995 by House of
Munn, Ireland.
Copies are available at US$45
(+ postage).
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The photographer Pádraig
Grant is to be commended for going out into the world and walking amongst
the orphans and the lepers and the weary aid workers to bring back these
striking images which mere words could never hope to capture. And if the
true measure of a great photographer is that his images take you there
then Grant is a truly great photographer.
More than once you find yourself transported to some far off parched and
dusty land, so vivid in fact that at times you can almost hear the sound
of the place - the tongue clicking song of the water carriers, the sound
of crickets in the night, camels yawning, donkey's crying and worst of
all the feeble cries of the dying displaced and the limbless dispossessed. |
There is humour
here too though. A prostitute drinking beneath a picture of the Pope.
A handful of boys laughing and smiling outside The Good Time Hotel. But
most of all you can not help but be moved by the dignity with which Grant
paints his subjects. White, sacred light shining down on a woman leper
and her baby for instance, which raises her to almost biblical proportions.
Pictures to remind us that these are the people who taught us to dance,
taught us to sing, taught us to reap and to sow. We are the little brothers
and they are now paying for our sins while we cover our ears and hum some
comforting little tune.
To conclude let me say that I wish I could coax you to enjoy this collection
but that would not be right. Enjoyment is not on the agenda here. After
all Pádraig Grant only shows you Eden so that you might recognise
hell on earth when you arrive there. No, let us just look and try to remember
lest we turn away and somehow manage to forget.
Billy Roche - Wexford, November, 1994 |
