Life without Lights

1.6 billion people worldwide live without electricity

Amplify’d from www.globalpost.com

Full Frame: Life without lights

1.6 billion people worldwide live without electricity. These are their faces.

Abdulai Abubakari holds his infant child, Fakia. (Peter DiCampo/VII Agency)

The villagers of Voggu are among the 1.6 billion people worldwide who live without electricity.

I had a simple plan: to photograph only with the light available, so that the reader can see only what the subjects are able to see.

I’ve been treading a careful balance with the stories I choose lately — after two years living as a volunteer in rural Ghana, it’s important to me to tell stories that present a problem without victimizing the subject.

I have no desire to contribute to a stereotypical view of Africa, presenting people as miserable and helpless — but I have every desire to use my photographs toward humanitarian means. How to reconcile the two?

Lights out

Peter DiCampo/VII Agency — Special to GlobalPost / October 22nd, 2010 Read more at www.globalpost.com

 

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