In 2018, the VII Foundation asked more than a dozen renowned reporters and photojournalists to revisit countries with which they had become achingly familiar during times of brutal conflict. The task was to see peace through the prism of their journalistic experience; to survey familiar towns and villages; to reconnect with women, men, soldiers, civilians, statesmen, and students who had survived the conflict or grown up in the postwar society; to discover what the lived experience of "peace" feels like. To augment this reportage, the VII Foundation sought input from academics and peacemakers. And they invited citizens of those countries to give their very personal narratives, in their own voices. Hard edges were not softened nor unpalatable impressions deleted. They wanted to show the truth as seen and experienced by those that lived and those that reported on seemingly intractable civil wars in Bosnia and Herzegovina Cambodia, Colombia, Lebanon, Northern Ireland, and Rwanda.
The result is Imagine: Reflections on Peace - a curation of searing images and trenchant essays that show both micro and macro views of peace, with its uneven degrees of economic success, political stability, and social harmony. In this stunning collection, worldrenown journalists and authors take us into societies that have suffered searing conflict - and survived. Photographic essays make the stakes during war and peace grippingly palpable. Compelling backstories about negotiations, tales of survival, and accounts of the search for inner peace make the big picture personal. Imagine offers a rare glimpse into the unvarnished story of peace, a window into what it takes for societies and individuals to move forward after unspeakable brutality.
Table of Contents:
Preface: Out of War, by Gary Knight Introduction: Building the Tunnel, by Jonathan Powell Lebanon (1975-1990) Don McCullin (portfolio), Robin Wright The Fire Under the Ashes, Nicole Sobecki (portfolio), Mira Sidawi I Am a Refugee, Just Like Superman Cambodia (1969-1991) Roland Neveu (portfolio), Gary Knight (portfolio), Jon Swain Fragile As a Flower, Sophary Sophin Excavating the Past, Imagining a New Life, Gary Knight (portfolio) Perspectives: The Essential Influence of Women in Peace: The Liberian Example by Marie O'Reilly Rwanda (1994) Philip Gourevitch The Burdens of Memory and Forgetting, Jack Picone (portfolio), Dydine Umunyana Butterflies Sat Next to My Heart Perspectives: It's in the Mind: How PTSD Affects Peace by Elizabeth D. Herman Bosnia (1992-1995) Ron Haviv (portfolio), Anthony Loyd God Won't Have Forgotten, Elvis Garibovic The Wolf You Feed,, Ron Haviv (portfolio), Pedrag Kojovic The Perils of a Peace Imposed Perspectives: No Mere Postscript: The International Criminal Courts by Justice Richard Goldstone North Ireland (1968-1998) Martin Fletcher Peace without Harmony, Gilles Peress (portfolio), Monica McWilliams and Avila Kilmurray The "Hen Party" Perspectives: The Narcissism of Small Differences: What the IRA Learned about Negotiation from the ANC by Padraig O'Malley Colombia (1964-2016) Jon Lee Anderson The Eternal War, Marguerita Martinez Finding Humanity in Havana, Stephen Ferry (portfolio) End Notes Iraq and Syria: The Space Between (2011-18) by Nicole Tung - Afterword by Samantha Power
About the Author :
ABOUT THE EDITORS:
Gary Knight is co-founder and principle architect of the VII Photo Agency, co-founder of the VII Foundation and founder of the VII Academy. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Frontline Club, London; co-founder of The GroundTruth Project, Boston; founding Director of the Program for Narrative & Documentary Practice at the Institute for Global Leadership at Tufts University; twice Chair and President of the World Press Photo Award; was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University in 2009, a Logan Non Fiction Fellow at the Carey Institute in 2017, and an acclaimed photographer.
Constance Hale is an award-winning writer, editor, and author of six books, including "Wired Style" and "Sin and Syntax."
Fiona Turner is an Emmy award winning broadcast journalist, producer, and doc-umentarian. Her first full-length documentary film, "Eat Up," was released in 2019.
Ron Haviv is a co-founder of the VII photo agency and the VII Foundation. He has won multiple awards for his photojournalism.
Review :
Imagine: Reflections on Peace is a book, exhibition, short films and educational curriculum conceived to encourage discourse and conversation around peace building and ending conflict. It is an initiative of The VII Foundation, which was established in 2001 to challenge complex social, economic, environmental and human rights issues through documentary non-fiction storytelling and education.
