Picture Essay

Ignorance is defined in Merriam-Webster's online dictionary as "lacking knowledge, education, or awareness." So often, people defend their actions by proclaiming that they "didn't know" or were never told how to do something. I think that ignorance is a huge issue that everybody in today's society is accountable for, myself included. It is easier for people to place the blame for their actions somewhere else than just admitting that they were in the wrong and should have been more aware of their surroundings and the circumstances that they were in. That is why I made my picture story of all images of things that depict ignorance in many different situations. Personally, I think that the most powerful and damning form of it is best portrayed in the image that says "Prejudice is the Child of Ignorance." I think that often people are prejudice towards others around them because they lack reliable information about the other person's lifestyle and circumstances that they may face. People restrict their thoughts and outlooks on others based on what they already know and what they may have been taught by their parents or friends instead of opening up to different and more variant ways of living. This strikes a personal chord with me because I have a sister who is often stigmatized by the way she looks due to a disability. People often treat her a certain way because they are not familiar with her condition and so they do not know how to act in a way that is inoffensive and acceptable. I get so angered by people who would rather base their views on people with disabilities off of movies, preconceived notions, and other sources rather than personal interaction with the individual. I think that people should take the time to educate themselves rather than jump to opinions about people that are completely unintelligible and naïve.

Besides being ignorant towards other's lifestyles and feelings, ignorance also takes on many other forms. In my picture story, there are also images of a car accident, a car getting towed, and "No Littering" signs. We often ignore things that are right in front of our eyes, whether we do it deliberately or not. We know that we should not talk on the cell phone while operating vehicles because it may lead to an accident and that we should not park our cars in tow-away zones because we may get towed. Smokers seem baffled and distraught when they are diagnosed with lung cancer even though it says right on the pack of cigarettes "Warning: CIGARETTES CAUSE LUNG CANCER." However, we do it anyways and then blame it on being misinformed or our carelessness after the consequences are already there. We do things that we recognize are unacceptable and then justify it by claiming our ignorance. It is about time that we realize that if we keep "lacking knowledge, education, and awareness," we are not going to get very far. We need to take responsibility for our actions and become accountable for our own lives instead of never admitting our wrong doing and closed-mindedness. As long as we are willing to learn and embrace our own flaws and behaviors, the downfall that everyone shares, ignorance, might become more bearable and minimized. To those who say "ignorance is bliss," it is time to open your eyes.

As I was collecting images for my project, I realized that there are many more forms of ignorance than I originally had thought of. The prototype for ignorance that always came to my mind was of people making wrongful assumptions with no evidence to back them up. However, when I actually had to come up with more examples, I realized the different constructions ignorance can take: parents being unaware of their teenagers action’s, the government being ignorant to society’s needs, tanning bed customers being ignorant to the risk of skin cancer, people ignoring everyday rules such as “no food or drinks,” and many more. I learned that there are many different degrees of ignorance although they all embody the same concept. One thing that was difficult for the essay was that I was not able to use my own pictures for the entire project because some of what I think are the key examples of ignorance, such as genocide and racism, I could not capture. Overall, the beginning vision for my project did not change, but it was expanded on. I came up with many more examples of the theme than I thought I was going to be able to. After reading select chapters from the book “Ways of Seeing” by John Berger, I realized there is never one way to look at a single image or a group of images. Just like the image by Van Gogh which Berger first introduced as being a cornfield with birds, and then as the last painting he created before he killed himself, the interpretation of an image is completely dependent on the individual’s thought processes and the context which surrounds the image. If no explanation or clues are given, an image (or picture essay in this case) is completely dependent on the viewer’s understanding and analysis. Berger touched on the fact that these days we are bombarded with so many images that we are rarely capable of experiencing their entire intended meaning. However, I think that although we might not remember every single image that we come across, there are certain ones that are able to leave a significant impression on us. So whether we are being ignorant to the small issues in our life, such as using cell phones in the library, or ignoring the big issues, such as the decline of our economy or the people who live below poverty level, we need to become more aware of the things that shape all of our lives.