Chapter 1

Photo by: Donna Wesolowski

The second greatest thing in my life has been union of my biological brother and I. We did not meet until he was 22 and I 32. Our biological father estranged from us at young ages, me personally when I was in the womb. He had an on and off relationship with our father until he passed away in October of 2016. The day after he passed he was told he had a half- sister, that day I too was told I had a half-brother and if would we like to meet. I have another half-brother whom I have grown up with and have a great relationship with, however we look nothing alike.

Growing up the kids at school always asked why I didn’t look like my family, I never had an answer but deep down I knew it was because I looked like my “father”. Upon meeting my new half-brother in October of 2016, the instant connection of looking alike sparked. We had the same stories of not looking like our brothers, he too had another half-brother pictured above. We soon became close and looked at baby pictures, the picture above is the first picture I saw of him as a child. It was an electric feeling that shot through me, how we had looked so much a like as children. It was that long-lost connection I felt in this picture.

I believe photos can change the world, according to Jonathan Klein's TED talk: one photo was linked to initiating the environmental movement. Seeing the planet in a picture showed people how our destruction has changed the world. The photo was taken on a NASA space mission Apollo 8 by an astronaut. It showed people what the world looked like, then when it started to deteriorate, it sparked a movement. 

Photo by: William Anders

Photo source: forbes.com https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2016/04/12/earth-day-2016-historic-day-earths-future/#64b16d23483b

This photo of the earth was published, yet there a lot that do not get published. According to Professor Nordell: Censorship happens with publishing, by government agencies and conglomerates. This opens one’s eyes to what pictures you don’t see, how could that change the world? You wouldn’t know because they are kept behind closed doors.

 The conglomerates own a lot of media outlets according to Alina Selyukh of NPR: “The heated competition for our attention and for advertising dollars is increasingly pitting traditional media and entertainment stalwarts against Internet and telecom giants. And some media companies are once again seeking refuge in larger conglomerates.” The list of associated media is astonishing, and proves why we only see what they want us to.

Censorship has brought about a new era of people photographing their own news, posting it to social media or sharing it with local news stations. This new type of news reporting has been called Citizen Journalists, there has been a large growth in this area. The public is taking news, tragedy, violence reporting, and natural disaster documenting into their own hands. According to Dan Gillmor’s article: the local citizens document police acts on their cell phone cameras and make a negative claim against law enforcements acts. This is a prime example of censorship and Citizen Journalists taking action.