My hometown- Vietnam

Let me tell you my story. My country was split into communist North Vietnam and non-communist South Vietnam. On April 30th, 1975, we successfully unified Vietnam under a communist government and the United States (with the aid of the South Vietnamese) failed to prevent the spread of communism.

After that day, many South Vietnamese people fled out of Vietnam because they didn't believe in the new government. Moreover, they  were afraid that their lives couldn't be safe. They mainly fled to the United States, and it is referred to as one of the largest war refugee migrations in history. However, because of the large distance from Vietnam to the US, refugees went to neighboring areas and then continued their journeys. As a matter of fact, hundreds of the refugees may have died of unexpected accidents such as: pirates, diseases, etc.

In the first photo, you can see a destroyed boat on Galang Island, Indonesia in 1995. Salgado captured a dark, truthful picture which evokes the miserable feeling for the refugees. According to Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, although "no one knows exactly how many thousands of people took to boats", it is estimated that "as many as half of them perished at sea." This estimation frightens me. The pain of loss as well as the pain of separation must still haunt the refugees' minds which causes disagreeable attitudes toward the communist government.  I don't blame them on their attitudes, rather I disagree with wars. What is the meaning of the Vietnam War when the U.S. received nothing from the invasion? In contrast, the U.S. suffered  lots of damage financially as well as casualities. We, the Vietnamese people, are still suffering from highly destructive impact of the war. The mental wounds of war are greater than anything.

One of my relatives, Tri, belonged to an anti-communism family. His family was rich because they worked for American employers. When the Vietnam War ended, his family escaped from Vietnam by going on the "boat people". Unfortunately, Tri was unable to go out of Vietnam because he was left behind and couldn't find his family. Tri told me he was extremely frightened and heartbroken when he lost his family at the age of 18. He wondered what he should do since he had no house, no money, no future. I cannot imagine the horrible feeling he experienced at that age. He still hasn't received any news from his family. Although the war has been over nearly 30 years, the consequences have not completely closed. The pain, anger and hatred still smolders somewhere.

Although the truths about the war are disturbing, it awakens the consciousness of young generations who know what to do with their lives and their societies.

Works Cited

Salgado, Sebastian. Photograph. Migration: Humanity in Transition. Aperture. New York, 2000.

The History Place. 1999. Web. 27 Jan, 2010.

http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/vietnam/index-1945.html

"Vietnamese Refugees". Southeast Asian Resouces Action Center. Web. 27 Jan, 2010

http://www.searac.org/vietref.html

Open some doors for them

Are you busy with homework, housework and lots of other stuff? Please spend a little time sharing the pains of thousands may lose their houses unpredictably, or who suffer from family separations.  For migration to take place, there must be some factor that pushes people out or that pulls them to a new environment. If those people lived in a stable environment, they would not think about moving. People leave their native lands for a variety of reasons: religious or racial persecution, lack of political freedom, economic deprivation and disasters.
This photograph can reveal nothing unless you consider the viewpoints of the illegal immigrants. I can imagine their eyes looking through the steel bar, wondering how they can get into the promised lands. They are not sure about their futures. I can feel their greatest disappointments when they touch the steel bar. It is too hard to go through. So much emotion overwhelms. Salgado knows how to create a touching photograph. This photo was taken in a skew angle which makes me feel the endless length of the steel bar. It also means that the immigrants are hopeless to finish their purposes. So why don't we open some doors for them? It's not the door to go into the United States, but instead it's the door to lighten their lives.

Salgado's purpose of taking photographs is to raise our awareness about social problems. Recently, the most shocking issue is the earthquake in Haiti. We live in the world of high-speed technologies which provide us lots of information, news, analysis about the current situaton of Haiti. However, we don't live to enjoy those technologies. We don't just watch and hear about those terrible news without doing anything relating to that disaster. I feel really painful. When they assess damage in Haiti: "Tens of thousands of people lost their homes, 9 million people may need emergency aid", I wonder what I can do to help them. However, everything won't change if I don't put my effort into helping. Feel their pains and do something....

Works Cited
Haiti devastated by earthquake." U.S.News". January 13, 2010. Web. January 20, 2010
Salgado, Sebastião. Photograph. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. Aperture: New York, 2000. 28.

I come from Vietnam- a country suffered from many wars, especially The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War. When I grew up, my country's economy began recovering and growing rapidly. However, I still heard some stories about Vietnam in the war from the elders. They told about refugees, starvation, poverty and even how people tried to migrate to the USA. I don't see the immigration situation as a big problem but Salgado's photograph has changed my mind. Through the images of the Third World, Salgado raised my awareness about my responsibility.
Sebastian Salgado was born in Aimorés, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. At first, his job was an economist, then Salgado began his career in Paris as a professional photographer in 1973. What makes Salgado's photographs become unique is the exposition on the other side of the world. He doesn't taking photographs from the beautiful life as people usually do but rather focuses on "the dark side of humanity". Salgado travels throughout the world for his photographic projects which have been featured in numerous international periodicals as well as books, including Other Americas (1986), Sahel: l’homme en détresse (1986), Workers (1993), Terra (1997), Migrations (2000), and The Children (2000).
Every week, I will spend time writing comments about his photographs in order to let people know how the other side of the world actually look like. Hopefully, I can awake somebody to the sense of duty.

Works Cited

Salgado, Sebastiao. Photograph. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. Aperture. New York, 2000. 78
"Sebastiao Salgado, Africa". Taschen. Web. 14 Jan. 2010.

Who I am???

This picture was taken by my relative. I haven't met her for a long time so we don't know each other well. When she came over my house, she was really interested in taking photos of the view around my house. What made me surprise was her ability to catching some great moments of the nature. Although I know there are many great things around my house, I have never realized that I live in such a beautiful world which is surrounded by lively insects, colorful trees.
She showed me many wonderful photos but I am deeply attracted to this photo because I see myself in it. At first, the picture reminded me of a triangle love, haha. Of course, I'm not in that situation. I hate choosing so I try to keep away from problems as much as possible. However, the photo made me wonder where I'd like to stand in my family and in the society : in the middle, on the right or on the left. I kept thinking of that and I came to the decision of standing in the middle. It's not because I like catching the notice of people or the fame. The reason I want to stand in the middle is because I like being loved by everybody. It's so grateful to feel the love, especially from people that I love. More than that, I also want to share the love to everybody and make them feel happy. And shouldn’t all people enjoy the same treasure of the world filled with inspiration and understanding?