Greenpeace - Making Waves: Indonesian activist arrest

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From the BBC "Day in Pictures" series, this great AFP capture of the arrest of an activist in Indonesia. The caption at the BBC doesn't mention the subject of the action (forest policy), and the strength of the photo is beyond that specific. This has some iconic qualities. It says something about confrontation, determination, and non-violence. The eyes of the police are everywhere except to camera, though the faces of the two in front look to me to be entirely aware of the camera, while the third at the feet hasn't composed his face. The green the activist is wearing stands in opposition to the grey of the uniforms, and the only other patch of color in the shot is the single bit of nature visible in an otherwise black white and grey artificiallity: the leaves in the distance. The activist's gesture conveys a danger we don't see, but which the helmet far in the background and the third cop's expression also suggest. And that badge just dominates the foreground of the picture's motion. Beautifully composed, there's an unanswered question, an unfinished sentence here, which leaves the viewer with a decision about whose side they're on.

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Those of you who want to know the story behind the photo can find it on the Greenpeace South East Asia website:

Indonesia has the world’s third largest forest area, considered by scientists as among the most biologically diverse ecosystems on Earth. Unfortunately it is vanishing at an astonishing rate over the past decade. In total, Indonesia has already lost more than 72% of its intact ancient forest areas and 40% of its forests completely. Large scale industrial logging and illegal logging operations are mainly to blame for these problems.
"Where is justice when those who try to protect the forests for the sake of future generations get arrested while those who destroy and kill our forests are allowed to continue their destructive rampage with impunity? We call on the Indonesian government to stop persecuting those who are fighting to protect our remaining forests by revoking all existing commercial logging permits and stopping the issuance of new permits," said Hapsoro, Forest campaigner of Greenpeace Southeast Asia and among those arrested.

Posted by: minimalmonkey | December 13, 2006 10:43 AM