RETHINK September 11 in a gallery of EPIIC proportions

"RETHINK: Cause and Consequences of September 11" will be in the Slater Concourse until this Sunday, Feb 29, so you have all week to go see it. You will even have time to see it again... which you should. The exhibition, put on by Tufts' EPIIC, is so saturated with content that it is hard to take it in all at once.

The presentation of the exhibition is more aesthetically aggressive than most galleries. Instead of being able to browse the exhibit at your leisure and focus on the photographs that may be particularly compelling, you are hit with a constant onslaught of images that continually challenge your ideas on the United States' place in the world.

Perhaps the most captivating images are those by James Nachtwey. One particularly poignant photograph is a close-up of a bloody hand flashing a peace sign.

Nachtwey is considered by many to be the preeminent photographer of his generation. In a statement printed on a wall as a part of the exhibit, Nachtwey says, "I believe that it will help us all to understand photography as a valuable tool that can help us learn how to make sense of the violence, the destruction, the chaos of this world."

A series of plasma screens on either side of the concourse showcase a sampling of the photos in the "RETHINK" book, the book which complements the exhibition. This section may require an entire visit of its own.

The work of past and present Tufts students is also represented in the exhibit. These photographs range from the pictures taken by students on research projects in Havana and Jersualem to alumni's photos of Turkish Kurdistan which were published in the "The New York Times."

The exhibit coincides with the national launch of the "RETHINK" book, which will be held tonight at 8:00 p.m. in Alumnae Lounge. Jonathan Schell, a 2004 Dr. Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award Recipient, will give the address.

The launch of "RETHINK" also marks the first event by EXPOSURE, a Center for Photojournalism, Conflict, and Human Rights, which was formed over the Fall 2003 semester. EXPOSURE owes its roots to the Institute for Global Leadership at Tufts.

"We're trying to bring photographers and other documentarians who are involved in war and human rights to Tufts and talk with them about these issues," EPIIC student Matt Edmundson explains. Edmundson was involved in EXPOSURE's creation.

Another EPIIC student Esra Yalcinalp feels that EXPOSURE will fill a void in photographic exhibitions. "There was a gap at Tufts. There was an emphasis on aesthetic art, but not photojournalism." Her photography of Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina appears as part of the RETHINK exhibit.

The photos certainly make strong artistic statements, but it is not a case of style over substance, according to Director of the Institute for Global Leadership and EPIIC Sherman Teichman. "To us, it is artistry." He also said that the reason for the exhibit is not solely a desire to showcase artistic talent but also a "sense of obligation and accountability."

Indeed, the photographs are gripping, and their substance is enhanced by the gallery's arrangement. "[The photos' subjects] want their stories told, they need their stories told; we can't afford to look away," Teichman said.

Yalcinalp hopes that the RETHINK exhibit will make people who don't know much about world events, contemplate their role in a more global environment. She believes the visual medium of photography is a tool that allows people to engage more with issues and bring the problems of the rest of the world close to home. One can read numerous articles and not glean anything from them, she feels, but photographs have a way of staying with you: "Pictures last longer in our mind's eye than words."

The "RETHINK" exhibition is a collaboration between de.MO, a publishing group and VII, a photographic organization.

The book features the work of various luminaries in the fields of documentary and journalism, including John Cooley, Professor Robert Dannin, and photographers Ron Haviv, Gary Knight, Antonin Kratochvil, and James Nachtwey. The works of the photographers on display can also be found. Essays by international leaders and intellectuals such as Kofi Annan, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Susan Sontag, Noam Chomsky, and General Wesley Clark are also represented.

Copies of the "RETHINK" book can be seen on display at the entrance to the gallery concourse.