XDRTB.org - Photography Making A Difference

I'm sharing these photos by James Nachtwey because there's nothing I believe in more than art that makes a difference. A grand slice of my entrance essay to Pratt had me going on about how my real goal in studying communication design is to be able to contribute to something bigger and more important than the mainstream heavily commercial world of design. Taking everything I can learn from that and taking action with the bigger picture. Who gives a crap if you can drink Coke and listen to MP3 downloads on the latest iPod when we're heading towards an environmental (and human) apocalypse anyway… When issues like the mandatory switch to renewable energy sources, solving the GWC through community values, and oh so much more are just pushed aside because the majority of people (1) don’t understand the urgency completely (2) are being guilted instead of educated first, (3) are not provided enough information on how easy it is to make a huge difference with tiny, easy, consistent and combined efforts (4) don’t completely understand that a lot of industries have lobbyists keeping them in the dark about their consumer actions/consequences (5) etc etc etc…


I could go on and sound (even more) like an angry granola chick, but I’ll leave that for another post. Only because this post is as important in it’s own aspect. In effort to tell the tale of extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) and TB, Nachtwey proclaimed his dream after being awarded the TED Prize and $100,000. "I'm working on a story that the world needs to know about. I wish for you to help me break it in a way that provides spectacular proof of the power of news photography in the digital age.”, and so came this photo series that is now a manifestation of his wish.

To learn more about the disease, James Nachtwey, and what you can do to help, visit http://xdrtb.org and help spread the story.