Special thanks to the Community Health Planning and Policy Planning Section for supporting the “Unembedded” exhibit at the 2007 APHA Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. It was a brisk 30-minute walk from the Convention Center, where most the APHA events were held, to the AFL-CIO office, the site of the “unembedded” exhibit. APHA, the Labor Caucus and the Peace Caucus sponsored the exhibit. According to official estimates, 250 people attended the Opening Reception and more than 1,000 viewed the exhibit between Nov. 4 and 9.
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| Photojournalist Kael Alford at the Opening Reception. Photo by Tom Piper |
The panels were interesting. The space was crowded. Crackers, cheese and fruit kept the attendees entertained through the speeches at the Opening Reception. Kael Alford, one of the photojournalists whose work was featured in the exhibit, narrated some of the stories behind the photographs using a PowerPoint presentation.
The “Unembedded” exhibit had large panels with text explaining the stories and public health statistics. The photographs that I remember most were those of happy Iraqi women playing in the river. There was a photograph of a family outing by the river. Men and women bathed in different areas. Ms. Alford said that, as an American journalist, she assumed a unique social status, and could move between the men’s and women’s areas taking photographs.
There were pictures of helplessness. A son sitting on the floor by his injured mother whom doctors had judged to be beyond their resources to help. There were pictures of fear, anger, pain, destruction and sadness. Pictures of war.
At the event, union leaders, politicians and advocates shared their perspectives. I wished the exhibit had been closer, or better still, within the Convention Center, so I could have visited it again. I was pleased to learn that the exhibition inspired others to bring it to their cities next year, including potential shows in Cleveland, Minneapolis, Seattle and Vancouver.
For more information about the traveling schedule, the authors, the book, or other details, go to http://www.unembedded.net.