I was very impressed with Obama's comments on being witness to man's inhumanity to man. I remember when I photographed in the concentration camps and couldn't help but wonder how I would have handled myself if confronted with the choices people were forced to make under Hitler. I could see myself being incredibly challenged on all fronts with more questions left unanswered.
Door of No Return, GhanaI saw a performance of Macbeth last year and in the playbill, there was a quote from James Baldwin which really resonated.
" We would rather believe that evil comes into the world by means of a single man, can be laid at the door of Another; but Shakeskpeare knew, and all artists know, that evil comes into the world by means of some vast, inexplicable and probably ineradicable human fault. That is to say: the evil is, in some sense, ours. And we help to feed it by failing so often in our own private lives to deal with our own private truth."
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So many big thoughts - Obama in Ghana - a soaring moment, the sweeping scar of slavery, being a witness to history thru travel to source sites and the enduring beauty of wonderful photography.
And then you throw Hitler in for good measure. I think there is a demonic urge that moves through the world as there is a divine urge also moving. The balance goes back and forth thru all the levels from the national down to individuals and how each interacts.
This is a world of choices - but I don't really think free in the way we wish it were. When those forces come together with demonic fury like Nazi Germany or across the landscape of slavery, tragedy results like night following day.
When they come together for Good and they often do - humankind and individuals move forward and many things become possible. I believe we're in one of those times now. - DHF
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