1. MAKING PEACE
Can a photograph inspire us into action?
Ashley Woods, curator of the Making Peace
exhibition thinks it can.
I
t's important to realize that a memorable
photograph doesn't happen by itself.
Firstly, a photographer chooses to press a
buttonattherightmoment.Then,aneditor
decides whether to publish it or not. My hope as
a curator, is that after presenting certain images
to an audience they decide not to be bystanders
anymore, but begin to participate actively in the
world around them, promoting positive change.
It's a chain reaction that can start with a single,
powerful image. A photograph makes you think,
and since we can visualize what took place,
we believe it to be true. The “truthfulness” a
photograph represents is its strongest weapon.
Many people shy away from graphic, violent
imagery as it makes them uncomfortable. Yet,
while we should never force anyone to view
anything against their will, the truth must be
told. Today, more than ever, we are subjected
to sensational and violent images every day,
in a mistaken belief by the media that “this is
what the audience wants.” It can leave us feeling
disengaged and helpless, rather than informed
and empowered.
Making Peace was first produced by the
International Peace Bureau (IPB), the world’s
largest and oldest peace federation to mark
their Nobel Peace Prize centenary in 2010. Since
then, this outdoor exhibition has traveled to
nine major cities and been seen by millions of
ordinary people. It presents 124 photos, from an
initial research of more than 10,000, that covers
a century of photography – from 1914 to the
present. The exhibition brings together the work
of 111 photographers of all nationalities and the
photographs on the following pages are a small
sample of their work.
I like to call it the “Beginners guide to peace”
as it allows the general public, and especially the
youth, to understand better the five elements that
are crucial to forming peace. These are:
disarmament and nonviolence, conflict
prevention and resolution, economic
and social justice, human rights, law and
democracy, and the environment and
sustainable development.
While you may wonder how a
photographcanachieveallthis,remember
that many images have become iconic
symbols of their time. The problem with
these historic images – such as the photo of
a napalmed Vietnamese girl or the raising
of a flag over Iwo Jima – is that viewed on
their own they tend to reinforce people's
belief that human history is only about
conflict. Images have the power to elicit
strong emotions and it's important to
present a different story to our children:
using images that inspire and reaffirm
our belief in humanity. This is the aim of
Making Peace.
As the last panel in the exhibition
depicts (a full-sized mirror), making peace
is really up to you. •
www.makingpeace.org
Real Leaders | 31
THE POWER OF PICTURES

2. 32 Real Leaders Real Leaders | 33
Japanese children view the A-bomb Dome in Hiroshima Peace Memorial
Park, Hiroshima, Japan. 2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing
of both Hiroshima (6 August 1945) and Nagasaki (9 August 1945), which
resulted in the combined deaths of over 200,000 people. Those who miraculously
survived are referred to by the Japanese word “Hibakusha” which means
"explosion-affected people." According to Tadatoshi Akiba, former Mayor
of Hiroshima, "the passing on to younger generations the memories and the
will of those who suffered the bombing, is the most important step for
humankind to survive in the 21st century."
Just married. Twenty-three year-old Abed (Muslim groom) and 19 year-old Arige (Christian bride) walk through the bombed ruins of Beirut, Lebanon, 1983.
Richard S. Fuld Jr., Chairman and CEO
of Lehman Brothers, testifies about the
collapse of the financial institution before
the House Oversight and Government
Reform Committee on Capitol Hill, as
protesters from ”Code Pink” wave signs
reading‚”Shame." Code Pink is a women-
initiated grassroots peace and social justice
movement. Washington D.C., USA, 2008.
A Mines Advisory Group (MAG) technician carefully pins a 'bounding
fragmentation' (anti-personnel) mine in Zaren village. Kurdistan/ Iraq,
2003. Every year, landmines kill 15,000 to 20,000 people — most of them
children, women and the elderly — and severely maim countless more. The
Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer
of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, referred to as the "Ottawa
Convention" or "Mine Ban Treaty," seeks to end the use of anti-personnel
landmines (APLs) worldwide. As of February 2013, 161 states are party to the
treaty, with 36 non-signatories, including the United States, Russia, and China.
SUSUMUTOSHIYUKISEANSUTTON
DAVIDBRODYJAYULLAL

3. 34 Real Leaders Real Leaders | 35
Vietnam 1972. If there was one photograph that captured the
horrific nature of the Vietnam war, it was the picture taken in
1972 of nine year-old Kim Phúc, running naked down a road,
screaming in agony after her village in the Central Highlands of
Vietnam had been sprayed with the chemical weapon napalm.
Although the photographer Nick Ut helped save Phúc's life by
taking her to hospital, it would take many years and several
operations before she would be able to resume a normal life.
Gandhi acknowledges the cheers of young women workers outside Greenfield Mill in Darwen,
Lancashire as part of his study of labour conditions in the English cotton industry. UK, 1931.
Nelson Mandela (1918 – 2013). Anti-apartheid activist who became President of
South Africa between 1994 - 1999, the first to be elected in a fully democratic process.
Mandela served 27 years in prison. Following his release in 1990, Mandela supported
reconciliation and negotiation, and led the transition towards multi-racial democracy
in South Africa. One of Mandela’s primary commitments in later years was the fight
against AIDS. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
Kim Phúc today. Married with two children
and living with her husband in Toronto. She's
become a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and
encourages youth worldwide to get involved
in peace-making activities. The Kim Phúc
Foundation provides medical and psychological
assistance to child victims of war.
“It seemed that picture didn't want to let
me go. At first, I was very upset. And then a
wonderful thing happened. I thought, 'If I
can't escape that picture, I can work with it
for peace.' I accepted it as a powerful gift.”
– Kim Phúc
"It always seems impossible until it's done"
Nelson Mandela, Nobel Peace laureate
(1993)
NICKUT
HANSGEDDA
JOEMCNALLY
UNKNOWN

4. 36 Real Leaders Real Leaders | 37
Former Yugoslav president Slobodan Miloševic'
at the International Criminal Tribunal for the
former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, where he
was accused of having committed war crimes in
Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Croatia. Miloševic' died
in his cell from a heart attack on 11 March 2006
before a verdict could be reached.
At the two-week Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 (held twenty years
after the first global environment conference held in Stockholm) the United Nations (UN)
sought to help governments rethink economic development and find ways to halt the
destruction of irreplaceable natural resources and pollution of the planet. It resulted in the
adoption of “Agenda 21,” a 'non-binding' voluntarily implemented action plan to achieve
sustainable development worldwide. The objective of the UN Climate Change Conference
(COP21), held in Paris (30 November – 11 December 2015) is to achieve, for the first
time, a 'binding' and universal agreement on climate from all the nations of the world.
Pakistani school student and blogger Malala Yousafzai campaigned for
women's right to education before being brutally shot in the head by a Taliban
gunman while returning home from school on 9 October 2012. Remarkably she
survived the ordeal and on 12 July 2013, Yousafzai's 16th birthday, she spoke
at the United Nations (UN) to call for worldwide access to education. The UN
dubbed the event "Malala Day." It was her first public speech since the attack,
leading the first ever Youth Takeover of the UN, with an audience of over 500
young education advocates from around the world. In 2014 Malala was co-
recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize along with Indian activist Kailash Satyarthi.
An indigenous woman and child try to resist the advance of policemen who are expelling her and some 200 other members of the
Landless Movement from a privately-owned tract of land on the outskirts of Manaus, in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon. 2008.
STEPHANERUET
FABIANMATZERATH
LUIZVASCONCELOS
RIBEIRO ANTONIO