We live in the world of images

I like a very intense photo taken by Malcolm Browne, a photographer who never though that that capture became in a whole symbloic and shocking image throughout the twentieth century...

On June 11th, 1963, in the framework of strong protests organized against the government of Vietnam by Ngo Dinh Diem for its repression against the Buddhist religion, Thich Quang Duc, a sixty seven years old Buddhist monk, sat down on one of the main avenues of Saigon, where there were a few press correspondents and a small crowd. After two of his brothers sprayed him with fuel, he himself set himself on fire using a box of matches he had in his hands. Then it became a real human pyre, although the monk did not emit a single sound or move a single muscle while he was burning.

I really find this photo super fascinating because i saw it for the first time in january of the past year in bachillerato (the Arts subject, specifically the Theater module). We were talking about the Realistic Theater and how some mains cultural factors conduced to a very positivist paradigm wich it get noted in various facets of the society. Then, the teacher gave us some examples, and she led us to the photography. This photo is very useful to criticize to what extent a photo weighs more than reality, how we trust that photography shows the world as it is and not just one facet.

In nowadays, just like happened in 1963, we prefer take a picture and publish it than intervene if there is something polemic; as if a photo had more validity than the action...