Most of what I’ve written here recently has been entirely too self-centered. Before I started blogging one of my biggest objections to it was the prospect of becoming someone who was all into “she”…instead of the larger world and people in it.

Part of taking good pictures is learning how to use perspective to hit the target with your subject and composition. For me it’s been one of the hardest things to learn. As I’m sure you’ve all noticed, my favorite form of photography is macro photography, tight close shots of a subject — so tight that all other objects in the photo fade and blur into a nondescript background.

Macro photography has its strong points, but one of the weaknesses is the mindset of total focus into one small area while ignoring the larger picture. By necessity, perspective and focus becomes razor-sharp and directed into that one single subject, which is one of the reasons I tend to favor it — it’s the one time where I can really understand perspective.

Back to the blog now…that “macro focus” has been entirely too tight on me and mine. I was completely convicted of that when I read Cherie Berkley’s blog this morning. Cherie is a WebMD editor who is traveling in Africa as part of a joint UN/NABJ fellowship to report on AIDS in Africa — Tanzania, specifically.

…we passed broken sidewalks, run down buildings much in need of painting, barefoot kids, pools of dirty, standing water from lack of proper drainage (ie mosquito haven), and people cooking food on make-shift grills on the street. Then one of our U.N. escorts told us, ‘This is downtown Dar Es Salaam.’ Admittedly, I was in shock and awe that this was a major, downtown city. I’ve been to third-world countries before, such as Jamaica, but this — my heart sank.

The interesting thing about this is how many times her perspective changes. She begins with concerns about where she’s going to work out while she’s there and how best to report on HIV in Africa, and then her focus shifts again when she realizes that while HIV is a huge health threat, the larger and more immediate threat to the people of Tanzania is malaria. Her story of an elderly woman in a small river village really hit home. Hard.

She talked about how she had bed nets, but I saw those were old and tattered. She said she could not afford to buy more on her $11-a-month income. That is what she earns with two jobs; her full-time farming job, then her side job of making jewelry. A widow of 15-years, she is raising her kids and several grandkids on that amount…

$11 a month.

Cherie’s pictures give the perspective that mine lack. A wider, more global perspective. A perspective where people can only think about putting one foot in front of the other and doing the best they can in the face of poverty, ignorance (in some cases but not all) and apathy.

I got to thinking that I am one of the “haves” in a “have-not” world. All my petty moans and groans don’t stack up. I know, I know…we all get that at some point or another. But Cherie’s blog makes me think there must be some small thing that we can do as bloggers to make a difference. Got suggestions? Direction? I’m going to be looking for ways to extend Cherie’s message from a “read-about” to a “to-do” item.

I hope you’ll all read her blog. Her photos are beautiful, and her entries tell an interesting story, but the biggest benefit is seeing something like the health crises in Africa from a new perspective.

Technorati Tags: africa, tanzania, malaria, HIV, AIDS, world poverty