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1. Myths and heroes I’m going to talk about the notion of myths and heroes. First of all, I would like to give a definition of the notion. A myth can be defined as a story about gods or heroes, it can be a popular belief or a tradition or a false notion. A hero can be a mythological figure, a person who is admired for his or her achievements, noble qualities or great courage, or even a superhero, endowed with great strength and ability, or maybe a role model or an icon. In order to illustrate the notion, I have chosen to talk about photojournalism and attempt to answer the following question : Can we consider photojournalists as heroes ? To answer this question, I will present you three documents. First of all, I chose this picture taken by Kevin Carter in 1993 during a shooting in Soweto. This powerful photo shows what your job is really like when you’re a photojournalist. It draws our attention to the fact that the photographer probably faced a dilemma : he had to chose between shooting the event or saving his life. He possibly took the picture for two reasons : people had the right to know about the situation in Soweto and a photographer has the duty to inform people. So we guess he might have snapped the picture for the public to be aware of the political unrest in this part of the world. But he obviously put his life in danger as well. This is also the case for the world widely known photographer James Nachtwey. In a video we’ve seen, he talk about his job of war photographer and underlines that he has dedicated his whole life taking pictures for the world to know what is going on in several countries despite the numerous dangers. Then, we’ve watched the interview of a former war photographer named Don Mac Cullin. This world-widely known and dedicated photographer reveals that if he had known about the huge moral impact he was going to witness, he wouldn’t have wasted 50 years of his life snapping war zones and scenes. Henceforth, barely can he spend a day without being haunted by appalling memories of his former job. For instance, he wishes he hadn’t see people being both injured or murdered in front of him, having no way to change the cruel scenario. When he was younger, hardly could he stand his own children being picky after having seen children dying from hunger. Fortunately, his family allowed him to balance everything. Now that he’s quite old, he’s still driven by his fulfilling passion, but his new job as a landscape photographer helps him overcome and forget things more easily. Eventually, he would rather like to be called a landscape photographer than a war photographer. Finally, we’ve studied different extracts of a movie called the Bang Bang Club. The Bang Bang Club is the real life story of a group of four young combat photographers bonded by friendship and their sense of purpose to tell the truth. They risked their lives to tell the world the brutality and violence associated with the first free elections in post Apartheid South Africa in the early 90s. This intense political period brought out their best work but cost them heavy prices. The film

explores the thrill, danger and moral questions associated with exposing the truth of the apartheid. As a conclusion, it’s worth mentioning that these war photographers do want to show the world the way it is. These men and women are more than eyewitnesses, they’re also passionate people and adrenaline junkies who put themselves in harm’s way ; while bullets flew around them, they shot pictures that exploded like nuclear warheads across the world press. As far as I’m concerned, I cannot help thinking that photojournalist are real heroes!

2. Place and forms of power I’m going to talk about the notion of spaces and exchanges. First of all, I would like to give a definition of the notion. Power is the ability to influence the behavior of people but also the official capacity to exercise control and authority over others. It can be exerted in different spheres : economy, politics, media and so on. In order to illustrate the notion, I have chosen to talk about photojournalism and attempt to answer the following question : How can pictures influence people worldwide ? To answer this question, I will present you two documents. First of all, I chose an extract from an article about photojournalism written by Stuart Franklin in December 2015 in which he stands for the power of photography. Indeed, photography is one of the most important parts of journalism because it reaches people so powerfully. It’s quicker and it’s more effective than a text. A photo is immediate and compelling. It’s the first thing that the viewer will look at! A good picture makes you look and hopefully makes you look a little longer. Stuart put emphasis on the fact that you’re trying to communicate the essence of the story, what is the event, so the photo can help tell the story. Still photography gives the world something to concentrate on, something to look at, something to think about, something to ponder. Some photographs are effective because they are simple. Some photographs are visceral because they are complex. Other photographs are prominent because the subject matter is effective. Then, I chose this picture taken by Kevin Carter. In march 1993, he made a trip to southern Sudan, where he took an iconic photo of a vulture preying upon an emaciated Sudanese toddler near the village of Ayod. Carter said he waited about 20 minutes, hoping the vulture would spread its wings. It didn’t. Carter snapped the haunting photograph and chased the vulture away. The photograph was sold to The New York Times where it appeared for the first time on march 26, 1993 as a metaphor for Africa’s despair. Practically overnight hundreds of people contacted the newspaper to ask whether the child as survive, leading the newspaper to run an unusual special editor’s note saying the girl has enough strength to walk away from the vulture, but that her ultimate fate was unknown. Journalists in the sudan

were told not to touch the famine victims, because of the risk of transmitting disease, but Carter came under criticism for not helping the girl. He eventually won the Pulitzer Prize for his photo, but he couldn’t enjoy it. Consumed with the violence he had witnessed, and haunted by the questions as to the little girl’s fate, he committed suicide three months later. All in all, these three pictures show how important images are since they will remain permanent and engraved in people’s mind. We should keep in mind that journalists happen to be real whistle-blowers about a world which is still unfair.

3. The idea of progress I’m going to talk about the notion of spaces and exchanges. First of all, I would like to give a definition of the notion. The idea of progress can be defined as an improvement, a development or a change, as well as a technical, scientific or social advance which contributes to making the world a better place. In order to illustrate the notion, I have chosen two documents and attempt to answer the following question : How does the evolution of society influence family structures ? • First of all, I chose to talk about 3 extracts dealing with the theme of new family structures. Nowadays, family structures have deeply evolved for the better or worse. When nuclear family were the only model to follow in the past decades, blended family, same sex parents, adoptive or foster parents, surrogate parents and families based on another concept aren’t completely controversial anymore. Firstly, we must take into account the positive points of those new families. Indeed, when parents are overwhelmed by their own incapacity of having a baby, they can appeal to gestational surrogacies. Same-sex families are not less likely to handle a family, as social studies have shown. Indeed, homosexual parents are more common than before and quite well thought of. Moreover, blended marriages go forward because parents learnt from their mistakes to start a new. Far from being too idealistic, they do know what to expect. ! Secondly, we must bear in mind that life is not a bed of roses every day. Children from blended families might have some problems in the society as well as parents who could feel less closed to their first-born baby when it’s a gestational surrogacy. In divergent families, the members may have a though relationship with step parents and not get along with each other. However, things can work provided the children are loved and protected. ! To sum up, those troubles could happen in every family but they can be overcome with love. ! Then, we’ve seen a video that focuses on a major issue. It’s an extract of

the speech of Phil Snider. From Missouri, he gave the speech to Springfield City Council in august, where it initially seemed he intended to speak against gay marriage. He began the speech by saying that creating “special right for gays and lesbians” was not in line with God’s established order and would lead to “destruction and trouble”. But towards the end of his speech, Mr snider appeared to stumble and accidentally say “segregation” instead of “gay rights”. “I’m sorry, I’ve brought the wrong notes with me this evening”, he said. “I’ve borrowed my argument from the wrong century. It turns out what I’ve been reading to you this whole time are direct quotes from white preachers from the 1950s and 1960s all in support of racial segregation”. Mr snider revealed he had just replaced “racial segregation” in the old quotes with “gay rights”. He received an applause from the audience… As a conclusion, the idea of progress as far as families is concerned is inevitably connected to the evolution of modern society. Strict traditional education used to be quite common within large families who passed on strongly conservative moral values to their children. Over the last century, male dominated societies have been challenged and women have become emancipated, financially and sexually. As a consequence, values have been redefined and new family structures have emerged : single parenthood, recognition of same sex parents, remarriage and blended families. ! Finally, the struggle for gay rights has gradually led to the recognition of single-sex parenthood even though many people still disapprove of such new family structures for religious and politically conservative reasons.

4. Spaces and exchanges I’m going to talk about the notion of spaces and exchanges. First of all, I would like to give a definition of the notion. The different spaces of the world are nowadays more and more connected to each other. An exchange is an act of giving and receiving something else in return. It can also be seen as a continuous movement or circulation. There are different kinds of exchanges : media, people, trade… In order to illustrate the notion, I have chosen two documents and attempt to answer the following question : How does photojournalism influence people across the world ? First of all, I chose this picture taken by Kevin Carter in 1993 during a shooting in Soweto. This powerful photo shows what your job is really like when you’re a photojournalist. It draws our attention to the fact that the photographer probably faced a dilemma : he had to chose between shooting the event or saving his life. He possibly took the picture for two reasons : people had the right to know about the situation in Soweto and a photographer has the duty to inform people. So we guess he might have snapped the picture for the public to be aware of the

political unrest in this part of the world. But he obviously put his life in danger as well. This is also the case for the world widely known photographer James Nachtwey. In a video we’ve seen, he talk about his job of war photographer and underlines that he has dedicated his whole life taking pictures for the world to know what is going on in several countries despite the numerous dangers. Then, I chose this picture taken by Kevin Carter. In march 1993, he made a trip to southern Sudan, where he took an iconic photo of a vulture preying upon an emaciated Sudanese toddler near the village of Ayod. Carter said he waited about 20 minutes, hoping the vulture would spread its wings. It didn’t. Carter snapped the haunting photograph and chased the vulture away. The photograph was sold to The New York Times where it appeared for the first time on march 26, 1993 as a metaphor for Africa’s despair. Practically overnight hundreds of people contacted the newspaper to ask whether the child as survive, leading the newspaper to run an unusual special editor’s note saying the girl has enough strength to walk away from the vulture, but that her ultimate fate was unknown. It put emphasis on the impact that a picture can have. Journalists in the sudan were told not to touch the famine victims, because of the risk of transmitting disease, but Carter came under criticism for not helping the girl. He eventually won the Pulitzer Prize for his photo, but he couldn’t enjoy it. Consumed with the violence he had witnessed, and haunted by the questions as to the little girl’s fate, he committed suicide three months later. As a conclusion, pictures show how important images are since they will remain permanent and engraved in people’s mind. We should keep in mind that journalists happen to be real whistle-blowers about a world which is still unfair....