LETTER FROM THE EXPOSURE COMMITTEE

Everyday we are bombarded by images of little import. Driving down the road, one is force-fed pictures of kitchen appliances, cars, and perfumes. Too often we question what we could add to our closet or garage. What, if instead of concentrating on the 100 percent Egyptian cotton, 300 thread count tag, we considered the moral fabric of our society?   Photojournalism does that. It rips open our preconceptions and exposes us to the bluntness of life and war. It demands our complete consciousness and binds us with the responsibility of recognizing the texture of humanity -- its suffering, but also its joy.

Exposure Exhibit: Slater Concourse Gallery

The old proverb posits that a picture is worth a thousand words. This phrase may have grown cliche, but the immediacy of photography remains unique. The photographs we confront in books like War, Inferno and RETHINK are chilling and leave us emotionally distressed.

Never forgetting this psychic discomfort, we want to become informed viewers: informed about ways of seeing and about the events we see. Instead of looking and saying "someone should do something about that," we hope to gain knowledge that will enable us to respond effectively. Moreover, we wanted to have our questions answered by those who could answer them the best: those taking, publishing, critiquing, and disseminating photographs. As we looked for a source for such an education, we were hard pressed to find the type of scholarship desired.

And so, EXPOSURE: A Center for Photojournalism, Documentary Studies, and Human Rights was born. Our center has progressed more quickly than we could have ever imagined. The opportunity to collaborate with contributors to RETHINK has inspired us and will energize and motivate us in the development of EXPOSURE.