Objective Proficiency p 58. Robin Lustig: Covering Conflicts. Extra Listening

Robin Lustig, one of my favourite BBC presenters, made a selection of images for an exhibition entitled Covering Conflicts.

The exhibition combines famous pictures of key news events from past decades.

About this exhibition Robin Lustig said:

"I am hugely ambivalent about the notion of beauty in war, because I don't believe there can ever be beauty in death and destruction - yet the explosive clouds in Vietnam or the oil-covered duck amid the oilwell fires in Kuwait do possess a kind of awful beauty,"
"These images make us stop and think. And that, I'm convinced, is what all reporting, whether in words or in pictures, should aim for."

Listening task

Fill in the gaps with a word or expression:
1. These images tell mainly stories of pain and  ____________, and fear, and death.
2. But not all of them, there are a _______________ that tell a different story- about hope and strength and courage.
3. People fight because they believe in a cause, and because they believe they can win. Often they're wrong. And many of these images ___________________ the cost of their mistakes.
4. These images make us think about the world we live in. You look at that terrible image of the little girl in Uganda ______________ as she shows you were her hands used to be.
5. Or the carbonized ___________ of an Iraqi soldier in Kuwait. "Who was he?" "Was he married? or a father?"
6.  Journalists are _____________ conflict because it teaches us something about who we are and what we are capable of. The most _______________ brutality and the most _______________ courage.
7. These images remind us that all conflict is about individuals. The soldiers who fight, and kill, and die. And the __________________ who don't fight or kill but many of whom die anyway. And of course, the children, some of whom fight, some of whom die, none of whom really understand.
8.  These images ________________ over sixty years to the Second World War, the Independence Wars of Israel and India, Biafra, Vietnam, Palestine, Chechnya, Rwanda, and so many more.
9.  Many I ____________ you to forget. The _______________ student in Tiananmen square, so confident in his strength and power. That iconic image of the ______________ demonstrator confronting a line of Chinese Tanks. The ______________ images of the attack on the World Trade Centre in New York on September the eleventh two thousand and one.
10. Some of these images are actually very beautiful and I've included them because they make me think about whether there can be beauty _____________ fear and death. Do we risk becoming ___________ when we look at these images? Do we _____________ the reality by admiring the ___________?
11. Bruno Barbey's image from South Vietnam in 1972 shows ________________ against ____________ white smoke of explosives. The _____________ duck ___________ the burning oil wells in Kuwait 1991. Steve Mccurry's image of the __________ remains of the World Trade Centre after 9/11. How can they be beautiful when they represent so much death and suffering.
12 Marc Riboud's image from outside the Pentagon in July 1967 as an image of courage and of hope it can't be _____________.

 KEY
1. grief



2. handful



3. depict



4. biting her lip



5. corpse



6. drawn to (draw somebody to something: to attract or interest somebody. E.g. Her screams drew passers-by to the scene.) 


appalling


stupendous



7.civilians



8. stretch back (to continue over a period of time. E.g. The town's history stretches back to before 1500.)



9. defy (I defy you/anyone to do something: used to say that somebody should try to do something, as a way of emphasizing that you think it is impossible to do it. E.g. I defy anyone not to cry at the end of the film. I defy you to leave without buying something.) bare-chested, lone, searing (strong powerful E.g. a searing attack on the government. Searing pain)



10. in the midst of (in the midst of something/of doing something: while something is happening or being done; while you are doing something. E.g. a country in the midst of a recession. She discovered it in the midst of sorting out her father's things. She alone remained calm in the midst of all the confusion.) 


 voyeurs (voyeur /vwaɪˈɜː(r)/ a person who enjoys watching the problems and private lives of others. E.g. Reality TV turns the audience into voyeurs who eagerly follow the lives of others.)  


belittle (belittle somebody/something to make somebody or the things that somebody does seem unimportant. E.g. She felt her husband constantly belittled her achievements. By saying this, I do not mean to belittle the importance of his role. 


 aesthetic



11. stretcher-bearers (a person who helps to carry a stretcher, especially in a war or when there is a very serious accident). 


billowing (if smoke, cloud, etc. billows, it rises and moves in a large massA great cloud of smoke billowed out of the chimney.) 


 oil-coated (coat: to cover something with a layer of a substance. E.g. sugar-coated.) 


 amid. 


skeletal.



12 bettered ( better something: to be better or do something better than somebody/something else. E.g. The work he produced early in his career has never really been bettered.)

 
Transcript

Each one of these images tells a story. And because they are images of conflict, they tell mainly stories of pain and grief, and fear, and death. But not all of them, there are a handful that tell a different story and I've included them because conflict isn't only about pain and death. It's also sometimes about hope and strength and courage. People fight because they believe in a cause, and because they believe they can win. Often they're wrong. And many of these images depict the cost of their mistakes.
I've chosen these images because they make me think. And to me that's what journalism should be for. Whether by words or images to make us think about the world we live in. You look at that terrible image of the little girl in Uganda biting her lip as she shows you were her hands used to be. And you can't help asking, "who would do something like that?" "Is she still alive?" "What kind of life did she have?" Or the carbonized corpse of an Iraqi soldier in Kuwait. "Who was he?" "Was he married? or a father?"
Journalists are drawn to conflict because it teaches us something about who we are and what we are capable of. The most appalling brutality and the most stupendous courage. I'm drawn to these images because they remind me of our recent history, and they remind me that all conflict is about individuals. The soldiers who fight, and kill, and die. And the civilians who don't fight or kill but many of whom die anyway. And of course, the children, some of whom fight, some of whom die, none of whom really understand.
These images stretch back over sixty years to the Second World War, the Independence Wars of Israel and India, Biafra, Vietnam, Palestine, Chechnya, Rwanda, and so many more. Many I defy you to forget. The bare-chested student in Tiananmen square, so confident in his strength and power. That iconic image of the lone demonstrator confronting a line of Chinese Tanks. The searing images of the attack on the World Trade Centre in New York on September the eleventh two thousand and one. Let me say just a word about those images from that day in New York. There are more here from that one day than from any other single event, and there's a reason for that- first, they are all dramatic and powerful images, but they also remind us that that day our world did change. I remember broadcasting for many hours from a studio in Bush House and at some point during the afternoon a senior BBC executive sent me a message- "don't forget," he said,"this is the biggest story you will ever cover." He was right.
Some of these images are actually very beautiful and I've included them because they make me think about whether there can be beauty in the midst of fear and death. Do we risk becoming voyeurs when we look at these images? Do we belittle the reality by admiring the aesthetic? Look at Bruno Barbey's image from South Vietnam in 1972. Showing stretcher-bearers against billowing white smoke of explosives. The oil-coated duck amid the burning oil wells in Kuwait 1991. Steve Mccurry's image of the skeletal remains of the World Trade Centre after 9/11. How can they be beautiful when they represent so much death and suffering.
If I had to choose just two of these images, I'll tell you which ones I would choose. First, Gilles Peress's terrible image of the anonymous decaying corpse outside a church in Rwanda in 1994 because it says so much about evil in such a simple moment. And second, Marc Riboud's image from outside the Pentagon in July 1967 when a young anti-vietnam war protester confronted the National Guard holding just a flower. As an image of courage and of hope it can't be bettered.