We're all guilty of it here in New Zealand. We grizzle if we don't get enough time to surf, enough time at the beach or if we can't afford to spend a week skiing in winter. We complain if the price of fuel goes up and that trip to the beach costs a few dollars more. We get ratty if the sunshine doesn't line up with our weekend plans and we get grumpy if the swell never arrives or the snow never falls.
We're a bit spoilt here in Aotearoa. If you've witnessed any of the atrocities and the desperate escape bids of the Syrians in the past few months then you've probably had similar thoughts. Thankfully photography has brought this reality into crisp, confronting focus for us all this past week. Who can overlook what is shaping up to be the worst humanitarian disaster of our time. The stats are sobering: 11 million civilians – people like you and me – are displaced internally and externally. Families separated from loved ones, parents from children and children from siblings. According to the UN more than 16 million are in need of assistance.
It's an impossible situation on a global scale and it needs governments to lead the resolution on a global scale. This is the other side of globalisation ... the bit most hoped could be swept under the carpet as the rich got richer. But you can't sweep a dead boy on a beach anywhere. The difficulty of making that image has not escaped me and as photographer Nilufer Demir framed Aylan Kurdi's lifeless three-year-old body on that beach her only thought was to show this tragedy to Turkey. She didn't expect her images to define an era. Her photography has come to the aid of millions and beamed their plight into homes across the world with unprecedented reach. And the message is simple: how would you react if the lives of your kids and family were in the line of war?
You can help here.
This past week, we've found some waves, hit the mountains and taken some family time. Yes, we are spoilt to live here, but if we can appreciate that then it's not all bad. Hopefully New Zealand can find some room to share this slice of paradise with at least a few Syrians in the near future.
See you in the hills ... Derek
PS Next week we hit The Remarkables and Cardrona. Both are loaded with snow from this week's dump so make sure to get some for yourself before the season draws to a close.
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