mixmage

It’s been a week since a man drove down Westminster Bridge and murdered bystanders and a police officer and I really don’t want to monopolise on the tragedy in Westminster. This is more an account from someone inside Parliament during the lock down. It’s also about how I rationalised taking pictures whilst there. It’s a piece about inner conflict, my challenging relationship with the media and my inner dialogue around the way these incidents are reported and treated.  It also feels appropriate to send this out on the day the UK triggers Article 50 and we begin the process of leaving the EU. It feels like we’re in a flux of division, divisive language, multi layered narratives and waves of social media influencing our thoughts and behaviours.

So here it goes.

I’d just finished a routine photo shoot with the Royal British Legion with a couple of military veterans. We finished as usual at 230 pm and I made a quick stop to the bathroom. I noticed a woman who’d put her coat in the sink get agitated. The taps are on a sensor, so after placing her coat in the basin it quickly filled with water. She hastily grabbed the jacket and stuck it under the blower. She swooshed out and in came a woman who commented “No idea what’s going on out there but there’s about a hundred people in the corridor!” My immediate thought was perhaps a protest, someone un happy with a vote. The parliament building is fairly easy to access once through security and filled with school kids, tourists and MP’s. 

A crowd swelled in the Central Lobby and smart phones became the news source. Twitter became the connector. Oddly we were never actually told by anyone what was happening outside. Even to the point of us leaving 7 hours later we were never really told, and those of us who could get connected watched on our phones as we started to get an idea of the events outside.

Occasionally an angry steward in a black suit with long coat tails would shout over the tannoy ‘no photography’. This really did not dissuade the MP’s who had taken to twitter on mass. It did make it difficult for me to take pictures and I became incredibly self conscious. I started to recall all the situations before this where I have been locked in or in a so called ‘lock down’. All those memories from Iraq and Afghanistan during mortar attacks and clearance operations. What I recalled was the boredom and the small things people did to occupy time the time. I recalled hours sat in body armour and helmet inside a blast shelter.  But now I have a camera. It’s different.  That’s when I knew I would take the pictures. I wanted to show this other side of the day, something that gave a counter view to the events outside.

The building founded on the principle of democracy had now become the very building we were now detained within. Prisoners of un certainty and surrounded by power and the status afforded to the entitled. Armed police with hidden faces and aggressive posture. Clearly pumped on adrenaline.  I went and sat next to one of our veterans who was busy snapping selfies and trying to keep his anxiety levels low. Only an hour before he had shared his suffering and experiences with PTSD and a recent suicide attempt. We were sat with those who sent us to war, those who were broken by war and those who were facing the kinds of war that are hidden. Buried deep and boxed away like a dirty secret.

Catering staff mixed with boxing teams. Officer workers talked to school children.  At 6 hours into our lock down people started to mooch through the exhibitions in Westminster Hall. I remember sitting on the cold stone floor filing images as someone intently gazed over me at the exhibition behind. A polite greeting and then a return to the caption. Some just did their make up. 

Announcements were made as we were shuffled into another part of the building. No one could hear. We went back to your phones for information. Eventually we slowly made our way out the back parliament, the police had the painstaking task of checking every square inch of the the area before we could leave.  I turned back and saw people looking up. I followed their gaze. The union jack flag, at half mast. 

It’s been a week. What won’t leave me is the way in which we report on and explain events and the multiple biases we hold when doing so. How we prioritise the value of those who die. On the same day over 150 people were killed in Mosul in coalition airstrikes. Some of this is down to where the media locates, the ease of getting to an event and access - there are far more reporters in London than Mosul. But there is so much more to this than location and resources. This is also about mind sets, understanding our privilege and this often conflicted view of the ‘other’.  

Yesterday a young friend of mine commented that “The day after a reported terror attack how you put on your headscarf feels different. You can sense the change in the atmosphere. You know that when you walk into the street you know the frontline of who gets the hate is usually the most visible, which often means Muslim women.” She added “Our phones are alive with messages from friends telling them to avoid public places after some had been heckled and chased with pork.”  This societal ignorance and the building up of something which was the result of a deluded middle aged man murdering innocent people would have always been built into sensational headlines. It sells. That news sells. I sent pictures out because part of me knew that. I’m as complicit as everyone else in the media narrative. I thought I was doing my job, by documenting the event. But I also knew I wanted that other perspective out there.  Naively I thought it was important, but sometimes we feed the beast of fear. 

Doing magic with it:

Doing magic without it:

*UPDATED* Here is a masterpost of MOOCs (massive open online courses) that are available, archived, or starting soon. Some are short, some are very interactive, some are very in-depth. I think they will help those that like to learn with a teacher or with videos. I checked each link to make sure they are functioning.

Spanish

Beginner 

AP Spanish Language & Culture

Basic Spanish for English Speakers

Beginner’s Spanish:Food & Drink

Fastbreak Spanish

How to Self-Study Spanish

Preparing for the AP Spanish Exam 

Spanish for Beginners

Intermediate 

Spanish:Ciudades con Historia

Spanish:Espacios Públicos 

Advanced

Corrección, Estilo y Variaciones

La Innovación Social  (Check under Translation)

Leer a Macondo (Taught in Spanish)

Spanish:Con Mis Propias Manos

Spanish: Perspectivas Porteñas

Reading Spanish Literature

French

Beginner

AP French Language and Culture

Basic French Skills

Beginner’s French: Food & Drink

Diploma in French

Elementary French I

Elementary French II

Français Interactif

French in Action

French Language Studies I

French Language Studies II

French Language Studies III

French:Ouverture

French Through Stories and Conversation

Improving Your French

Mastering French Grammar and Vocab

Intermediate

French: Le Quatorze Juillet

Passe Partout

Advanced

Fantasy, de l'Angleterre Victorienne au Trône de fer

La Cité des Sciences et de Industrie

Les Chansons des Troubadours

Reading French Literature

Portuguese

Brazilian Portuguese for Beginners

Curso de Português para Estrangeiros

Italian

Beginner

Beginner’s Italian: Food & Drink

Beginner Italian I

Introduction to Italian

Oggi e Domani

Survive Italy Without Being Fluent

Intermediate

Intermediate Italian I

Advanced 

Advanced Italian I

Italian Literature 

Italian Novel of the Twentieth Century 

L'innovazione Sociale (Check language under translation)

Reading Italian Literature

Catalan

Intro to Catalan Sign Language

Latin

Latin I (Taught in Italian)

Russian

Beginner

Basics of Russian

Easy Accelerated Learning for Russian

Russian Alphabet

Russian Essentials

Russian for Beginners

Russian Level I

Russian Phonetics and Pronunciation

Reading and Writing Russian

Travel Russian

Advanced

Business Russian  (must register)

Let Us Speak Russian  (must register)

Reading Master and Margarita

Russian as an Instrument of Communication

Siberia: Russian for Foreigners

Ukrainian

Read Ukrainian

Ukrainian Language for Beginners

Kazakh

A1-B2 Kazakh (Taught in Russian)

Chinese

Beginner

Basic Chinese

Basic Mandarin Chinese I

Basic Mandarin Chinese II

Beginner’s Chinese

Chinese for Beginners

Chinese Characters

Chinese for Travelers

Chinese is Easy

Chinese Made Easy

Easy Mandarin 

First Year Chinese I

First Year Chinese II

Learn Oral Chinese 

Mandarin Chinese I

Start Talking Mandarin Chinese

UT Gateway to Chinese

Intermediate

Intermediate Business Chinese

Intermediate Chinese

Intermediate Chinese Grammar

Japanese

Beginner’s Conversational Japanese

Genki

Japanese JOSHU

Learn 80 JLPT N5  Kanji I

Learn 80 JLPT N5  Kanji II

Learn 80 JLPT N5  Kanji III

Learn 80 JLPT N5  Kanji IV

Korean

Beginner

First Step Korean

How to Study Korean

Pathway to Spoken Korean

Intermediate

Intermediate Korean

Dutch

Introduction to Dutch

German

Beginner

Basic German

Basic Language Skills

Beginner’s German: Food & Drink

Conversational German I

Conversational German II

Conversational German III

Conversational German IV

Deutsch im Blick

Diploma in German

German A1 Grammar

German Alphabet

German Modal Verbs

Present Tense German

Rundblick-Beginner’s German

Study German Language from Native Speakers

Advanced

German:Regionen Traditionen und Geschichte

Landschaftliche Vielfalt

Reading German Literature

Norwegian

Learn The Norwegian Language

Norwegian on the Web

Swedish

Intro to Swedish

Finnish

A Taste of Finnish

Basic Finnish

Finnish for Immigrants

Finnish for Medical Professionals

Frisian

Introduction to Frisian  (Taught in Dutch)

Icelandic

Icelandic 1-5

Arabic

Arabic for Global Exchange (in the drop down menu)

Arabic Language for Beginners

Arabic Without Walls

Conversational Arabic Made Easy

Intro to Arabic

Lebanese Arabic

Madinah Arabic

Moroccan Arabic

Read Arabic

Hebrew

Hebrew Alphabet Crashcourse

Know the Hebrew Alphabet

Hindi

A Door into Hindi

Business Hindi

Virtual Hindi

Indonesian

Learn Indonesian

Nepali

Beginner’s Conversation and Grammar

Welsh

Beginner’s Welsh

Discovering Wales

Irish

Introduction to Irish

Multiple Languages

http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/global-studies-and-languages/ : MIT’s open courseware site has assignments and course material available.

I’ll keep an eye out for new courses and if you know of any, let me know so I can update this list.