BY MARÍA HOYOS
If I don’t see it, I don’t believe it.
These are words many of us have said at one point or another.
With the Syrian refugee crisis, it was the image of a small boy on a beach or a father in tears as he and his family made their way off a boat that caught our hearts and minds and brought the tragic situation to life. Through these images, there has been a shift in our understanding and a growing a determination to help.
Images have power. It only takes one to start a revolution - and just one photograph can entirely change our perspective.
While an image makes the news, it can also capture a historical moment and become a symbol for a time.
Images like the photo taken by Joe Rosenthal of Iwo Jima or Alfred Eisenstaedt’s iconic snapshot that immortalised the kiss between a marine and a nurse in the middle of Times Square in NYC at the end of World War II.
A symbol of joy and positivity, this image is so significant that on the 70th anniversary of the end of the war, people around the world dressed as marines and nurses to celebrate.
Photographers put words aside. With just one image, they can convey what they themselves have lived, immortalising an event.
"If I could tell in words, I would not need to carry a camera."
Lewis Hine
An image transports us to places we've never seen and allows us to relive historic moments. It can make us experience unexpected feelings and take us to unexpected places.
An image is powerful; compelling people to move, feel and understand.
Pictures really are worth a thousand words, because without them, we would not know even half of the hidden corners of the earth or our universe.
They are the essence of our world, of our history.
What images have moved you and changed your perspective?