Sunday, February 16, 2014

US AID and nice photographs

"So on Monday, USAID put out a request for bids on a 90-day “trial” contract, with a possible extension to one year, for someone to take “timely, attractive visual images” of USAID projects, because such images “are a key element of any modern social media.”

Here’s the problem, USAID said in the solicitation: “In Afghanistan, negative images flood both social and conventional media with little counter. This makes fresh, regularly updated photographs of USAID work . . . critical for effective social media messaging.”  They wanted really “professional-quality” shots for their Afghanistan public outreach program, especially for the “mission website, Facebook page, Twitter feed and Flickr photograph feed,” we’re told, since most Afghans apparently spend their days on Facebook, Twitter and Flickr. USAID’s efforts have been impressive, “particularly in health and education,” the announcement said, “yet the overwhelming majority of pictures recording that effort are negative or at least to some extent misleading.”

Why? Because the pros working for the media produce “high-quality images” of the Afghan aid effort, we’re told, and “news photographs by their very nature focus on the negative.” USAID is simply “unable to compete . . . because of lack of skill and security limitations,” limitations likely to increase without U.S. troop support, possibly keeping photographers pinned down in Kabul."