I went to a lecture yesterday, where the amazing war/conflict photographer Jan Grarup talked about the stories behind the horrifying, beautiful and emotional photographs from his impressive 5kg heavy book “And Then There Was Silence”.
His work has taken him to almost every armed conflict we have seen in the last 20+ years, and personally I am impressed he can keep on doing what he does. The displays of human cruelty that he has seen through the years is unbelievable. I am sure it would be enough to make most men crack.
Instead, Jan has been able to keep shooting, but not just the cruel things. No, what impresses me the most is the beautiful heartwarming pictures of beautiful children in the most shitty situations, still smiling, caring and keeping up the spirit.
I were fortunate enough to have a brief conversation with a Jan during the break. I told him that I thought that his work were important and that I really think is photography makes a difference in the world.
Even though there were so much pain and suffering in some of Jan Grarup pictures, the feeling I had when I left the lecture was hope. Because Jan’s pictures tells me that even though bad things happen to innocent people every day, there is still far more good people in the world than bad people.
If you want to learn more about Jan Grarup, you can visit his website or buy the book “And Then There Was Silence”