Can photography change the world?
They say a picture is worth a thousand words and the eyes are the windows to the soul. So imagine the power of pictures of womens’ eyes the size of the roof on a house. With one image, in an instant, we get one thousand words about the soul of the stranger from another part of the world. The images are so large that they can be seen from space. Windows to the soul for aliens? I don’t think so, windows to the soul for the rest us, perhaps, to get a fleeting insight into the lives of others that share this planet.
This is the work of a young French photographer, JR, who aims to draw attention to the persistent strength of women in these struggling, poverty-stricken areas. The combination of the humble camera, billboard-sized prints and a creative eye JR has managed to change the cityscape of one of Africa’s largest slums and at the same time change the way that local residents see themselves and inturn how the world perceives them.
