Abbey Reuter's Response to Meeting with Fran Meckler

On June 15, 2017 Fran Meckler, a documentary photographer, showcased her photo collection “Fading Traditions: Papua New Guinea in Color”. Students in the Summer Institute were able to meet with her and discuss how her photos were a method to bring injustices to light. Below is a student’s reflection on meeting with Fran Meckler and her thoughts on photography as a way for advocacy.

Our evening with Fran Meckler was extremely interesting. Her descriptions of the different tribal customs and cultures stood out to me. And especially the title of the exhibition, Fading Traditions. It made me wonder about the impact of globalization and technology on our culture and especially on those that were so long sheltered from the general world.

And then arose the question of whether Mrs. Meckler’s photographs were helpful, hurtful or merely informational. I lean towards informational- a wakeup call to the existence of isolated pockets on the earth where time seems to have had no effect, where the ancient way of life still prevails. This knowledge forces us in our modern metropolises to consider whether our way of life is better, to view how things might have been. Are our advances worth it? Certainly in the realm of women’s rights we have made great progress. But there have been many egalitarian civilizations in the past with more equality than we have and many modern civilizations without equality. So the question stands: have we improved human life or made ourselves unhappy?

As brought up in the reading, photography can reveal social ills, giving a face to a reality that may not affect us. Recognition is the first step to change. Fran Meckler’s photographs show a country completely different from our own; perhaps forcing us to confront the differences and what they mean. The lack of consumerism, the rural living, the absence of an education system compared with rampant consumerism, a largely suburbanized population and a mandatory education system. Both countries are arguably very culturally diverse. Yet one has to wonder at the simple innocence of being enamored with a can and building a “she plane” to attract a “male plane”. We laughed at this, so secure in our own knowledge, our own modernity. Why? When a little more than 100 years ago we did not have planes. Our society moves so fast, but at what cost? We lose our wonder; become expectant, waiting for the next big thing to become accustomed to. We take everything for granted while they take nothing. A simple purse becomes a symbol of freedom; a dead phone becomes an enviable necklace.

For me, this was the true impact of Mrs. Meckler’s stories and photos. I began to wonder if I would rather be part of a tribe living in some tucked away, forgotten part of the world than here, in this 24/7 world of terror and information. I contemplated our progress and whether it has all been for good and whether we ought to continue on this path. And while I still do not have the answer, I am happy that Mrs. Meckler’s photographs inspired this internal debate now manifested on paper.

- Abbey Reuter