Jonathan Klein: Photos that changed the world

Translator: Lander Arbelaitz Reviewer: Jose Luis Ulazia

In my industry,

Nire industrian

we believe that images can change the world.

irudiek mundua alda dezaketela sinesten dugu.

Okay, we're naive, we're bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Ados, naif-ak gara, dizdirak itxutu gaitu, koitadu hutsak gara.

The truth is that we know that the

Egia da badakigula

images themselves don't change the world,

irudiek beraiek bakarrik ez dutela mundua aldatzen,

but we're also aware that, since the beginning of photography,

baina aldi berean badakigu, argazkilaritza hasi zenetik,

images have provoked reactions in people,

irudiek jendearengan erreakzio batzuk sortu dituztela,

and those reactions have caused change to happen.

eta erreakzio hauek bai, hauek gauzak aldatu dituzte.

So let's begin with a group of images.

Beraz, has gaitezen irudi talde batekin.

I'd be extremely surprised

Harritu egingo ninduke

if you didn't recognize many or most of them.

erakutsiko ditudan zenbait ez bazenituzte ezagutuko.

They're best described as iconic:

Ikoniko gisa deskribatu izan dira,

so iconic, perhaps, they're cliches.

hain ikonikoak, non askotan beharbada klixe ere badiren.

In fact, they're so well-known

Egia esan, hain ezagunak dira

that you might even recognize them

forma aldaketa txiki batekin ere

in a slightly or somewhat different form.

ezagutuko dituzuela.

(Laughter)

(Barreak)

But I think we're looking for something more.

Baina uste dut beste zerbaiten bila gabiltzala.

We're looking for something more.

Zeozer gehiagoren bila,

We're looking for images that shine

Zenbait gai kruzialetan argia islatzen duten

an uncompromising light on crucial issues,

irudien bila gabiltza,

images that transcend borders, that transcend religions,

muga eta erlijioak gainditu dituzten irudiak,

images that provoke us

zutik jartzera

to step up and do something --

edo zerbait egitera probokatzen gaituzten irudiak,

in other words, to act.

beste hitz batzuekin esateko,aktuatzera behartzen gaituztenak.

Well, this image you've all seen.

Beno, irudi hau guztiek ikusi duzue

It changed our view of the physical world.

Munduaren irudi fisikoaren gure ikuspegia aldatu zuen.

We had never seen our planet from this perspective before.

Lehenago ez genuen sekula mundua perspektiba honetatik ikusi.

Many people credit

Jende askoren ustez

a lot of the birth of the environmental movement

ingurugiroa zaintzeko mugimendua

to our seeing the planet like this

planeta horrela

for the first time --

ikustean sortu zen,

its smallness, its fragility.

bere txikitasunean, bere hauskortasunean.

Forty years later, this group, more than most,

40 urte beranduago, talde hau,

are well aware of the destructive power

beste asko baino hobeto konturatu da

that our species can wield over our environment.

gure espezieak ingurugiroan duen indar suntsitzaileaz.

And at last, we appear to be doing something about it.

Eta azkenean, badirudi zerbait egiten ari garela gai honekin.

This destructive power takes many different forms.

Indar suntsitzaile honek forma ezberdinak hartzen ditu.

For example, these images taken by Brent Stirton

Adibidez, Brent Stirtonek

in the Congo.

Kongon hartutako argazki hauetan hildako gorilak ikus daitezke,

These gorillas were murdered, some would even say crucified,

batzuk gurutziltzatuak daudela esan liteke,

and unsurprisingly,

eta espero zitekeen bezala,

they sparked international outrage.

nazioarteko haserrea eragin zuten.

Most recently,

Orain gutxi, naturak duen indar suntsitzailea

we've been tragically reminded of the destructive power of nature itself

gogorarazi digu

with the recent earthquake in Haiti.

Haitiko lurrikarak ere.

Well, I think what is far worse

Hau baino okerragoa da nire ustez

is man's destructive power over man.

ordea, gizakiak duen beste gizakiekiko duen indar suntsitzailea.

Samuel Pisar, an Auschwitz survivor, said,

Samuel Pisarrek, Auschwitz-etik bizirik ateratzea lortu zutenetako batek,

and I'll quote him,

hau esan zuen:

"The Holocaust teaches us that nature,

“Holokaustoak irakasten digu

even in its cruelest moments,

natura, bere momenturik krudelenetan ere,

is benign in comparison with man,

oso xaloa dela konparatuta gizakiarekin

when he loses his moral compass and his reason."

honek moralaren iparrorratza eta arrazoia galtzen dituenean batez ere".

There's another kind of crucifixion.

Bada beste gurutziltzatze mota bat ere.

The horrifying images from Abu Ghraib

Abu Ghraibeko irudi beldurgarriek,

as well as the images from Guantanamo

baita Guantanamokoek ere,

had a profound impact.

eragin handia izan zuten.

The publication of those images,

Irudi hauek argitaratzeak,

as opposed to the images themselves,

irudiek erakusten dutenaren aurka ere,

caused a government to change its policies.

gobernu bat bere politikak aldatzera eraman zuten.

Some would argue that it is those images

Batzuek defendatu izan dute

that did more to fuel the insurgency in Iraq

irudi hauek izan zirela beste edozein ekintzak baino indar gehiago

than virtually any other single act.

eman ziotenak insurgentziari Iraken.

Furthermore, those images forever removed

Areago, irudi horiek okupazio indarren

the so-called moral high ground of the occupying forces.

argumentu moral guztiak suntsitu zituzten.

Let's go back a little.

Jo dezagun pixka bat atzera.

In the 1960s and 1970s,

1960.eko eta 1970.eko hamarkadetan,

the Vietnam War was basically shown

Vietnamgo Guda Ameriketako egongeletan erakusten zuten

in America's living rooms day in, day out.

egun batean bai, eta bestean ere bai.

News photos brought people face to face

Argazki berriek jendea gudako biktimekin aurrez aurre jartzera eraman zuten:

with the victims of the war: a little girl burned by napalm,

napalm-arekin erretako neskato txiki bat,

a student killed by the National Guard

Guardia Nazionalak protestetan hildako

at Kent State University in Ohio during a protest.

ikasle bat Ohioko Kent Estatu Unibertsitatean.

In fact, these images became

Esan daiteke

the voices of protest themselves.

irudi hauek protestaren beraren ahots bilakatu zirela.

Now, images have power

Orain, irudiek ulermenaren argia islatzeko indarra dute

to shed light of understanding

zenbait susmo

on suspicion, ignorance,

ezjakintasun eta batez ere,

and in particular -- I've given a lot of talks on this

hitzaldi eman izan ditut honen inguruan

but I'll just show one image --

baina soilik argazki bat erakutsiko dizuet,

the issue of HIV/AIDS.

GIB/HIESaren kontuan.

In the 1980s, the stigmatization of people with the disease

1980.eko hamarkadan

was an enormous barrier

eritasun hau zuten pertsonen estigmatizazioa

to even discussing or addressing it.

barrera handia zen baita arazoaz hitz egiteko ere.

A simple act, in 1987, of the most famous woman in the world,

Ekintza soil batek, 1987. urtean, munduko emakumerik ezagunenak,

the Princess of Wales, touching

Galesko Printzesak

an HIV/AIDS infected baby

GIB/HIESak kutsatutako haurra ukitzen ikusteak eragin handia izan zuen,

did a great deal, especially in Europe, to stop that.

batez ere Europan.

She, better than most, knew the power of an image.

Berak inork baino hobeto zekien irudiak duen indarraz.

So when we are confronted by a powerful image,

Beraz, irudi indartsu baten aurrean gaudenean,

we all have a choice:

bi aukera ditugu.

We can look away, or we can address the image.

Begirada kentzea, edo irudia aztertzea.

Thankfully, when these photos appeared in

Eskerrak, 1998an the Guardian egunkarian

The Guardian in 1998,

argazki hauek argitaratu zirenean,

they put a lot of focus and attention and, in the end, a lot of money

atentzio handia jarri zuten hauen gainean, eta azkenerako diru asko ere bai,

towards the Sudan famine relief efforts.

Sudango goseteari aurreko egiteko esfortzuan.

Did the images change the world?

Irudiok mundua aldatu al zuten?

No, but they had a major impact.

Ez, baina eragin handia izan zuten.

Images often push us to question our core beliefs

Irudiek badute gure sinesmenik sakonenak

and our responsibilities to each other.

eta besteekiko ditugun respontsabilitateak dudan jartzeko indarra.

We all saw those images after Katrina,

Denok ikusi genituen irudiok Katrina hurakana ostean,

and I think for millions of people

eta uste dut milioi askorentzat

they had a very strong impact.

eragin handia izan zutela,

And I think it's very unlikely

eta uste dut amerikarrak

that they were far from the minds of Americans

2008ko azaroan bozka ematera joan zirenean

when they went to vote in November 2008.

oraindik beren buruetatik oso urrun ez zeudela.

Unfortunately, some very important images

Zoritxarrez, oso irudi garrantzitsuak

are deemed too graphic or disturbing for us to see them.

grafikoegiak dira edo beraiek ikustea oso deserosoa da guretzat.

I'll show you one photo here,

Argazki bat erakutsiko dizuet

and it's a photo by Eugene Richards of an Iraq War veteran

Eugene Richardsek Irakeko Beterano bati ateratako argazkia da,

from an extraordinary piece of work,

ikaragarrizko lana da

which has never been published, called War Is Personal.

sekula publikatu gabea, “Guda Pertsonala da” izenekoa.

But images don't need to be graphic

Baina irudiek ez dute zertan grafiko

in order to remind us of the tragedy of war.

izan guri tragedia bat gogorarazteko.

John Moore set up this photo at Arlington Cemetery.

John Moore-k Arlingtongo hilerrian atera zuen argazki hau.

After all the tense moments of conflict

Gatazka baten tentsio-momentu guztien ostean,

in all the conflict zones of the world,

munduko gatazka-eremu guztietan

there's one photograph from a much quieter place

bada argazki bat, askoz ere leku ixilago batean atera

that haunts me still, much more than the others.

eta hunkitu egiten nauena, beste guztiak baino gehiago.

Ansel Adams said, and I'm going to disagree with him,

Ansel Adamsek esan zuen, eta ez nator berarekin bat,

"You don't take a photograph, you make it."

“Ez duzu argazkia ateratzen, egin egiten duzu”.

In my view, it's not the photographer who makes the photo,

Nire ustez ez da argazkilaria argazkia egiten duena,

it's you.

zuek baizik.

We bring to each image

Argazki bakoitzari geure balioak eransten dizkiogu,

our own values, our own belief systems,

gure sinesmen sistema,

and as a result of that, the image resonates with us.

eta horren ondorioa da, irudiak geure baitan jarraitzea,

My company has 70 million images.

Gure konpainiak 70 milioi irudi ditu.

I have one image in my office.

Nik bat daukat nire bulegoan.

Here it is.

Hauxe da.

I hope that the next time you see

Espero dut zerbait esaten dizuen irudi bat ikusten duzuen

an image that sparks something in you,

hurrengoan, ulertuko duzuela hobeto zergatik den hori,

you'll better understand why,

eta jakin badakit,

and I know that speaking to this audience,

audientzia honi hitz eginez,

you'll definitely do something about it.

horren inguruan zerbait egingo duzuela.

And thank you to all the photographers.

Eta milesker argazkilari guztiei.

(Applause)

(Txaloak)