Acclaimed photojournalist James Nachtwey's dream of using images to marshal arms in the battle against tuberculosis is coming true with the help of technology titans.
Nachtwey's photos portraying victims of the increasingly drug-resistant deadly disease and dire conditions in Africa and elsewhere are spreading on the Internet with help from tech firms including YouTube and Akamai.
Mammalfish put its software savvy to work building the
http://www.xdrtb.org website that debuted Friday presenting Nachtwey's dramatic images and recruits support for stopping the spread of "extremely drug resistant tuberculosis."
"Photographers go to the extreme edges of human experience to show people what's going on," Nachtwey said.
"They aim their pictures at your best instincts: generosity, a sense of right and wrong, the ability and the willingness to identify with others, the refusal to accept the unacceptable."
A virulent, mutated strain of tuberculosis known as XDR-TB is found in 49 countries and is blamed for more than 20,000 preventable deaths annually.
"We hope that the visibility achieved by the global unveiling of these photos will underscore the danger ... spur people around the world to demand action, and spur world leaders to act," said Joanne Carter, executive director of medical advocacy group RESULTS USA.
Nachtwey's pictures will be projected in public spaces in New York, Paris, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Seoul, Hong Kong, London and other cities around the world, with viewing events slated on all seven continents.
Singer Paul Simon and Larry Brilliant, the head of philanthropic Google.org, were among those slated to attend a Nachtwey photo slideshow event in New York City on Friday.
Nachtwey's vision was made real as the result of a "wish" granted him by a Technology, Entertainment and Design conference where the powerful, famous, influential and brilliant share visions for bettering the world.
"I'm working on a story that the world needs to know about," Nachtwey said while urging TED to back his idea in 2007.
"I wish for you to help me break it, in a way that provides spectacular proof of the power of news photography in the digital age."
TED "curator" Chris Anderson on Friday called on the group's influential and creative members to help Nachtwey spread word of the need to battle XDR-TB.
"Forward this email, blog, write, broadcast, talk with your family, friends and work colleagues," Anderson said in a message to "Tedizens."
"This is a race between the ability of deadly, mutated bacteria to spread, and our ability to spread awareness first."
© 2008 AFP
Related stories:
How Washington hospitals unleashed a MRSA epidemic
Year after year, the number of victims climbed. But even as casualties mounted - as the germ grew stronger and spread inside hospitals - the toll remained hidden from the public, and hospitals ignored simple steps to control the threat.
Web 2.0 gives new tools to hate groups: experts
Social networks MySpace and Facebook and video-sharing site YouTube are being used as powerful new tools by extremist groups to spread a message of hate, participants in a conference on Internet hate speech warned here on Monday.
Scientists fight stem rust UG99 before it becomes a threat
(PhysOrg.com) -- Wheat breeders and plant pathologists at Montana State University are part of a global effort to develop varieties of wheat resistant to a new fungus. UG99, a stem rust strain that was first discovered in Africa and is slowly creeping towards the United States, could be devastating to Montana's wheat industry.
Controversy over sex studies found to have lasting impact
When then-Rep. Patrick Toomey criticized a small group of federally funded sex studies - demanding "Who thinks this stuff up?" on the floor of Congress - his proposal to yank the funding was narrowly defeated.
Toxic toads killing Australian crocodiles: scientists
Toxic cane toads are killing alarming numbers of Australia's freshwater crocodiles as the alien pests hop inexorably across the continent, research showed Tuesday.
The Network of Everything
(PhysOrg.com) -- Wireless experts believe that, by 2017, personal networks will have to cope with at least a thousand devices, like laptops, telephones, mp3 players, games, sensors and other technology. To link these devices will require a ‘Network of Everything’. It represents an astonishing challenge, but European researchers believe that they are moving towards the solution.
Google tracks flu outbreaks through search queries
Google is putting the power of the Web to work in tracking the onset of influenza in the United States, tracking patterns in search queries to determine the spread of the disease.
'Airport malaria' -- cause for concern in the US
In a global world, significant factors affect the spread of infectious diseases, including international trade, air travel and globalized food production. "Airport malaria" is a term coined by researchers to explain the more recent spread of malaria to areas such as the United States and Europe, which some scientists credit to warmer climate changes.