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| Inside the United Nations: a photo essay by Judah Harris |
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The United Nations is "battling for relevance."
On December 2, 2004, Kofi Annan's appointed High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges, and Change officially released its anxiously awaited report on U.N. reform - an in depth effort to address changing threats to global security and to respond to the shrinking credibility of the United Nations, by recommending multiple actions towards creating a "better UN." Founded in the wake of World War II, the family of Nations committed themselves to guaranteeing a more secure future for all nations - young and old, small and large, rich and poor, exemplary and not. Even from the very beginning, the viability of a workable United Nations has been a big question mark. Max Stanley, engineer, businessman, and a "world citizen," founded The Stanley Foundation to support multilateral solutions. " We must stop fumbling and mumbling that the problem is complicated. We must use courage and foresight to develop a workable United Nations, capable of fulfilling it's essential mission." Has the United Nations been successful? With its help, numerous world conflicts, quandaries and plights have been resolved. And yet some would argue that the UN is part of the problem. What exactly goes on at United Nations headquarters in NYC (and yet not part of NYC, as it occupies 18 acres of International Territory, even issuing its own postage stamps) where each day some 4500 citizens of many nations come to work? How does the United Nations fulfill it's mandate of Peacekeeping, Development and Aid in many world regions, while at the same time educating the world - especially the United States, its largest contributor since the UN's founding in 1945 - as to its purpose, its method, and how other parties can best help the UN fulfill it's mission? In mid-August of 2004, on assignment for The Stanley Foundation, I spent six days at UN Headquarters seeking to educate myself and then portray for a broader public some of the inner workings and unique structure of an institution less understood. My series of photographs, shot in B&W, complement attempts to better understand, at this time, the UN as a global institution and a destination of world leaders, travelers, and countries and societies seeking fair justice, reconciliation, and opportunity on this planet.
Judah S. Harris is a photographer, filmmaker, speaker and writer. His work can be seen at www.judahsharris.com
The Stanley Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization focused on promoting and building support for principled multilateralism in addressing international issues. Their website is www.stanleyfoundation.org. Highlights from the Inside the United Nations photo essay: The images in this series invite viewers to wander the building and grounds of the UN, introducing individuals such as Canadian-born, Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette, shown meeting with UN staff on the 38th floor of the Secretariat building… and Monika Fidler, a daughter of Polish immigrants, and an International Affairs major from Northeastern, interning for her second summer at the UN, seen reviewing contracts with her co-workers in a fluorescent-lit, office cubicle. Two "signature" areas of the UN: the General Assembly and Security Council, are shown in photographs that capture the expansiveness and architecture of these rooms; the ornate detail and - when standing in the right spots - the geometrically-intriguing arrangements of upholstered seating, gallery levels, and overhead lighting. A replica of Thailand's Royal Barge, displayed in public-area at the UN, is shown in a photograph that plays with shadow, light, and reflection. It's but one of many pieces in the UN's museum-like collection of art and craft, gifted by member countries. The UN sponsors nearly 70 different sports and cultural activities for it's many staff, for reasons of relaxation and rapport. Both are at play in an end-of-the-day chess game that attracts a handful, sometimes more, most afternoons to a quiet, almost hidden corner in back of the General Assembly. Educational tourism is big business at the UN, with nearly a half a million visitors each year. Multiple-language tours are offered daily, and many guides are adorned in their native dress, as is Verona from Zambia, seen in a few of the photographs. The UN houses a large center with facilities for the journalists and reporters who cover the UN fulltime. Also, a television broadcasting studio, from which UN sessions are broadcast live to world media. One photograph in this series documents a Fox News production crew of nearly 15, taping with the backdrop of the "twisted revolver"; Carl Fredrik Reutersward's 1988 sculpture titled "Non Violence. With bright lights and abundant face powder to wipe away sheen, the reporter tries repeated takes of: "How much did the UN really know about the Oil-for-Food Scandal?" Story at 11… A few of the photographs in this series portray the special memorial ceremony held on August 19th, 2004, to mark the first anniversary of the bombing of UN headquarters in Baghdad. Relatives of many of the 22 victims who died that day lit candles as a picture of their family member appeared on screen. The flag that flew in Iraq, and sustained the blast, is shown on screen and draped in front of the memorial candles. PHOTO'S of United Nations by Judah Harris Click HERE |
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