It made me think of one of the projects I came across while in Ethiopia earlier this year, although this is by no means the only example I’ve come across in Africa.  In an area hit very hard by the 1984-85 famine, a Canadian Aid organisation has been working with local populations on a scheme to make best use of the available rainfall.    On a massive scale the hillsides have been terraced to help retain soil so that vegatation can grow and moisture is retained.  This is all fine and well in Ethiopia, where the politial stability makes it possible to work with the government to ptovide long terms solutions to famine caused by drought.  Somalia, for example, is a very different case, but at least it goes a little way to deciffering where the problems are.

Perhaps at some point I’ll go back to make a more complete record of the work – these were taken in passing with the significance only being realised in retrospective.

Travelling in Africa is a bit like going for a jog – sometimes you wonder why on earth you’re doing it.  It’s not like ski-ing in deep power, bombing it down-hill on your bike, catching the perfect wave, dancing your titties off to your favourite band or playing an amazing solo on stage – the enjoyment  isn’t that tangible.  And as you’re crammed on some hot, sweaty and dusty bus chugging along at 30kmph through the dessert,  or trying to force down some terrible local staple, I do spend time wondering why I’m doing it.

Similarily, as I’m jogging along and my body’s screaming at me to ‘stop, STOP!’, it’s easy to wonder why you do it – I’m never likely to win any medals running, I eat too much cheese and drink too much beer for that, and you pretty much always end up right back where you started.  It is true however,  once you go through the barrier, then the running itself is an amazing experience, but more than that it’s what it brings to the rest of your life.

I’m much like most other people out there with a ‘modern’ lifestyle – I spend too much time at a computer and I don’t do enough excercise.  Running galvanises my life so I don’t feel quite so bad about sitting down and getting on with something in front of the screen.  Somehow travelling in the developing world does the same for my life –  seeing, breathing and feeling it somehow restores my faith – knowing that corporations are not taking over the world, everyones’ not obsessed by owning shit and there are people out there who smile a lot more than we do.  A journey to the flip side always makes me think and realise.

Working away on  my own ideas in my own time I live a privileged life – for which I am extremely grateful.  In other parts of the world people just don’t get such an opportunity to pursue their own dreams, and many people here who get the opportunity don’t take it.   But at the same time the stresses of modern life are inherent in my own life, and the material selfishness laced through our culture erodes a sense of community, which is ever present in other less ‘prosperous’ cultures than our own.  To put it bluntly, I believe we’ve got a lot to learn from other cultures including those in the Third World.  I’ve suggested this before, and, even some people who spent time travelling in the Third World pointedly disagree – they say Africa is a ‘basket case’.  But the Africans haven’t yet cut down their trees and been sucking oil out the ground like there is no tomorrow.

Get yourself a cup of tea and check it out these interviews with some of the photographers.

Some highlights :-

2008 – Cristina Garcia Rodero [Spain] on Maria Lionza Rituals, Venezula

2010 – Elizabeth Kreutz [USA] on Lance Armstrong

]]> http://www.redlightray.com/world/world-press-photo-exhibition-in-london/feed/ 1 http://www.redlightray.com/world-issues/the-story-of-stuff/ http://www.redlightray.com/world-issues/the-story-of-stuff/#comments Thu, 25 Nov 2010 20:30:21 +0000 redlightray http://www.redlightray.com/?p=1407 If you’re interested in getting a handle on the challenges we’re all facing in the coming decades then I’d recommend taking a look at this >>

The Story of Stuff from Long Island Pulse on Vimeo.

you’ll find more info on this here.

It is all underpinned by the way in which technology now allows individuals to communicate to each other en-mass, not just one or two at a time like a telephone conversation, or like a dozen people at a meeting for example.  The result is that people organise themselves into massive communities with considerable power, enough to undermine the gargantuan corporate companies that have assimilated tremendous power in recent decades.   Thank god is all I can say!  - if you’ve ever seen the Pixar film Wal-E then you can probably see where all that was heading!

There are examples of how the power base is shifting already: In the record industry peer to peer sharing transformed the industry, recorded companies like Sony, Time Warner and EMI were brought to their knees because millions of people decided to work together, and in the process the power shifted from the corporate, to the listener and the musician.  Wikipedia has revolutionised publishing, and Opensource software projects like Linux or WordPress (this website is a WordPress website hosted on Linux servers) are both taking lumps out of the corporate giants like Microsoft and Apple.  And this is really just the start of it…

” In 1969, a 14-year-old Beatle fanatic named Jerry Levitan snuck into John Lennon’s hotel room in Toronto and convinced him to do an interview. 38 years later, Levitan, director Josh Raskin and illustrators James Braithwaite and Alex Kurina have collaborated to create an animated short film using the original interview recording as the soundtrack. A spellbinding vessel for Lennon’s boundless wit and timeless message, I Met the Walrus was nominated for the 2008 Academy Award for Animated Short and won the 2009 Emmy for ‘New Approaches’ (making it the first film to win an Emmy on behalf of the internet). ”

But at the same time as laying out  the records of these great ‘discoveries’ of the past 160 years, it also somehow highlights how we have been eating away at the world’s diversity.  Never before have I had such a sense that the world is getting smaller and smaller.  As we pack more and people in, it seems that the last great wildernesses are shrinking, and the ‘unique peoples’ are being amalgamated into the juggernaut of general society.  Many of the tribes and peoples in this book don’t exist any more.

Exploration isn’t the same any more; from watching watching Jeremy Clarkson ( BBC presentor for the car related program topgear) drive to the North Pole in in a  4×4,  to the cue of people waiting in line on an in season day to stand at the top of Everest, there are obvious examples of how things have changed.  Could the golden age of geographical discovery be over?

There are still strands of geographical exploration which stand out as reaching into fresh territory, most obviously perhaps, there is space exploration, and Robert Ballard’s talk on deep sea exploration might demonstrate another example.  There are also always people pushing the limits somehow, climbing mountains by new routes, sailing round the world in faster times etc etc.  But is this anything new, or just more of the same?

My instinct tells me that there will always be great discoveries to be made, stagnation isn’t possible, but when mother nature has had enough, we’ll be gone.

Pictures to follow…

Reliving the experience by writing it down reinforced my interest in Africa, so much so that when the final manuscript was sent to be printed, I went on a reading binge – taking in all I could find on the subject.  The most notable findings were Blayne Hardens ‘Dispatches from a fragile continent’, Richard Dowden’s ‘Africa’ and various works by the Polish journalist Ryzard Kapusincki.  These comprised some of the most thoroughly researched, well thought-out, and incisive writings about Africa I could find.  I was worried that conclusions I had come to and expressed in my book, wouldn’t in fact be based on enough of a breadth of experience to be classed as anything more than naive.

I didn’t realise it before I went but Africa fascinates me.    It sits out there on it’s own, and is the continent that the world would miss the most – in a complete reversal of the value traditionally given to it in political and economic spheres.  It’s disparate collection of people, places and cultures, which never ceases to dumbfound, horrify and amaze,  is as thrilling as you’ll find.  For me, this has manifested itself into a long term interest in the continent; it’s unlikely I’ll stop thinking about it, and words and pictures are the product of the thought.  It would at least be nice to think that the first attempt at recording some of these thoughts didn’t produce something rubbish.  For the time being at least, I’m not cringing.

What we are witnessing now is start of an unravelling of the entire infrastructure we base our civilisation on.  From the weather, to the way we get about,  to the animals that surround us, the food we eat and the illnesses we suffer.  The environment in which we live is going to fall apart and we, almost without exception, are all complicit in this degeneration.   Even if we meet the strictest targets on global carbon emissions, we still won’t be able to avert disaster on a massive scale.  Technology and renewable energy sources wont save us, neither will GM.  The only way is a more complete approach to the way we live and manage the earths resources, and that requires initiatives not just from governments and organistions on a national and global scale, but also a new resourcefulness on a local and personal level.

I’ve spent considerable time over the last few months thinking about where the weaknesses lie in terms of our current lifestyles and what moving to greener living actually means for our day to day lives.  I’ve boiled it down to these main points which i think will shape the way we live:

1. Limiting our number of offspring. In a world which is going to be vastly overpopulated, it’s just not cool to have lots of kids any more. Particularly if you live in the western world, every person currently uses a huge amount of energy, and this isn’t likely to change overnight.  Collectively, having no children obviously isn’t a solution either, or for that matter realistic, and so the obvious goal is to hit a ‘steady state population’ which can be comfortably provided for by local resources.  This will inevitably mean massive migrations of people as global warming renders some areas of the world unlivable in.  The more we choose to ignore this, the more the world will impose it’s own population control measures – a greater concentration of people makes the spread of disease easier, and so we will effectively be breeding an unhealthy population.

2. Living near where you work. Traveling long distances everyday by car, train or even plane isn’t fun and it isn’t wise.  People who live within cycling distance of their work undoubtedly have a higher standard of living, spend less on travel and don’t rely on the exploitation of oil reserves.

3. Holiday locally. Weekend breaks by plane wont be possible when the oil starts to run out.  This will have it’s own way of regulating itself as the price of flying escalates with oil price.  Just like people did quite happily in previous centuries, we will go back to holidaying locally – resulting in the resurgence of local holiday spots.

4. Buy quality. Quality items last longer and save you money in the long run.  The culture of disposable items will die away in favour things which can be serviced.  This again will be a move back how it used to be when, for example, you got your shoes resoled.

5. Reusable packaging. As most packaging is again derived from the petrochemical industry, we wont be able to use it once and throw it away.

6. Domestic Energy use. Very few things in your house need to be on permanently.

7. Micro power generation. Geothermal, solar and wind power are all possible on a small scale.

8. Clean Energy. Even once we’ve limited our domestic energy use, and developed any opportunity for micro energy  generation, particularly in a urban environment it’s unlikely you’ll be able to supply all your own power.  While currently it’s very difficult to source completely green energy - current schemes usually only claim a higher percentage comes from renewables - supporting green energy schemes will surely make it possible in the future.

9. Building design. Well insolated buildings need little more than our body heat to stay warm and can also make use of micro energy generation

10. Clever food production and distribution. While the ultimate might be to grow your own food, this doesn’t offer an realistic solution to food supply in urban centres.  The local shop vs supermarket debate continues, but ultimately the supermarket wins out  because it offers people a service which is easier to use.  Supermarkets history has however been tarnished by the way they’ve used their buying power to ship food around the world, and to force the price they buy food for down.  This has ultimately forced farming towards intensive methods, where the direct effect on animals health can be seen with the emergence of diseases like CJD.  The fundamental concept of a supermarket is not flawed however, just the way it’s been implemented.  In essence, supermarkets will supply what we buy and so if we buy locally produced food, that’s what they’ll give us. While the government could impose stricter laws on making it clear how food has been produced (acurate labelling), there is, even as it stands, usually an ethical option you can take in supermarkets.  The rise in oil prices will make the shipping of food from the other side of the world uneconomical, and so we’ll have to eat seasonally, as it wont be possible to get anything at any time of the year (unless Genetically Modified Crops make this possible).  The rise of internet shopping and food delivery services mean individuals don’t have to make lots of separate trips, infact making the process of buying food easier.

11. Plants. Lots of plants = healthy planet.  Even on a tiny scale, a few plants in a room make a massive difference.

Interestingly, all these changes will infact make for a higher standard of living, and are becoming more desirable due to the clamour and bustle of modern living.  The parts of our lives which need to be changed are things that we’ve convinced ourselves we need, but aren’t actually any fun (you can’t tell me that being stuck in a traffic jam or queing in an airport is any fun).  Implementation of this kind of lifestyle on local level would suddenly make a global solution plausible.  As it standswe dont have a hope.