Many low-income countries are faced with the reality of water scarcity and sanitation. The lack of trained personnel and hygiene practices put populations in these areas at huge risk for waterborne diseases, particulary diarrhea. Pollution also plays large factor in the water quality available to people in many parts of the world. These issues are of major concern and are a large focus for many international health groups and NGOs. Nearly forty percent of the world's population lacks adequate sanitation while about eighteen percent lacks access to a fixed water supply.
In an age of growing technological advancement and easy access to digital tools, it is no suprise that images in the media have made their way onto headlines. Recently, Microsoft Corp. was found to have digitally edited the face of man from white to black in a photo featured on the company's US website. A college digitally inserted the picture of a black student on the cover of a brochure to show the "diversity" of its student population. Even more extreme is the example of an image showing four missiles being launched while another picture showed only three.
I was excited to receive a visit from a Photoshare contributor and contest participant Ziad Jazzaa Turkey – an award winning Iraqi filmmaker and refugee. Ziad recently resettled in Baltimore and stopped to visit after an English class. Ziad even brought a color version of his 2005 FP/RH award winning photo.
What goes through your mind in the moments as you raise your digital camera up to take a shot and before you press the shutter? If you’re like many digital photographers you’re not thinking about too much - you just want to capture the moment and then move on.
The sixth annual Photoshare Photography Contest is just around the corner - check back for more updates on rules and important dates - In the meantime, here are several other photography contests which are coming up soon as well!
Photoshare has recently updated its social networking pages - Facebook, MySpace, Orkut, and our Flickr Page! Feel free to browse through and add us to your network of friends or contacts!
