It has become customary for anyone who wants information on a specific subject to search Google. Most of these searches provide lots of information from which to choose. Majority of this information is accurate and well maintained. You can choose to view the web in general, images, news feeds or videos related to your specific search. These search results sometimes contain items not related to the subject of interest. I decided to conduct an image search on Africa to see what images there were of Africa, and also to know how someone who had not been to Africa, or had no knowledge of the continent would perceive it after doing a similar search. After all, the internet is now a major source of information. It is also a place where you can receive timely updates on developing stories and issues. Most of the images found online would be works of professional photographers, journalists, tourists and everyday people. This would therefore give you an idea of how Africa is perceived by people from the continent and beyond. These pictures will attempt to generalize life, usual and unusual sights on the continent. News reports and updates will also inform you on the general state of the continent.
The images I saw were shocking and depicted life as a miracle on the continent. They were divided into categories whose titles even said volumes. They were, “Culture, starving, poor, dancing and tribe”. The bulk of the images contained black Africans dressed in primitive traditional attire, bone thin children with captions like malnourished, famished or poor. I also saw images of people living in shacks and straw huts. Other pictures also depicted young men in rag tag clothes wielding weapons(machetes and automatic firearms) with backgrounds showing either deserted city streets or fleeing civilians carrying or carting items. It is a well known fact that pictures say much more than words. The tone of these pictures lead only to one conclusion. Those who do not know Africa or have never been to the continent would view her as a place that is filled with backward people and conflict and suffering. Aside these disturbing images, there were also those of wild animals roaming freely in jungles, the tone of these pictures suggested that one was expected to encounter such creatures on a normal basis on the continent. In browsing the images, I could not help but notice the use of certain words to describe the pictures and to provide a narrative on the images. Even the most joyful looking pictures had captions that sought to take the joy off the faces of those captured. Captions range from words we identified in class as leading to stereotyping, like “primitive, hunger, poverty, disease, war, conflict, suffering”. A term like “sad poverty” caught my attention. I tried to understand its meaning but drew a blank. It seems all of these pictures tried to out do each other by showing the most gruesome image and or couple it with a caption that does exactly what it is supposed to do, and that is to capture your attention. I have never come across such a combination of descriptive words, not even in class.
If I were to write a descriptive paper on Africa based on the images I saw on the search I conducted, I would, with the help of the captions, describe the continent as full of primitive tribal people, conflict, hunger and disease, and also a place where wild animals roamed free. I would never advise anyone to visit the place. I would view Africa as a place where life was mainly survival of the fittest, an absence of law and order prevailed and chaos was the norm. However, I would be very wrong in my description based on the content I viewed on the internet. Just like any other place on earth, Africa has her challenges, and it is unfair how she is portrayed. The images were biased and tilted in a direction where the viewer was expected to think. I must add that most of these pictures were taken by professional photographers with the intent of sale to media houses. Also, others were taken by NGOs seeking funding for one project or the other. The media needs shocking images to sell news, whilst the NGO’s require compelling pictures to justify funding. I am not contending that assistance is not needed by Africans. One must however get a fair and unbiased view of the continent, one that shows both the beautiful and ugly sides. This would be real, and you can make well informed decisions based on the truth.
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