An exhibit at the Ryerson Image Centre will feature the work of Toronto war-zone photojournalist Louie Palu.
To mark the centennial of the First World War, the Ryerson Image Centre hosts three exhibitions, including Dispatch: War Photographs in Print, 1854-2008. One of the featured photographers is the Toronto war-zone photojournalist Louie Palu. We spoke to him from Washington.
War journalism fascinates people, I think because there's a curiosity as to why one would choose to put themselves in such peril. Why do you do it?
For a very long time, I had a lot of default answers to that question that I probably borrowed off other people. Because, in my head, I didn't really know. My short answer is that I want to get people talking about the war I'm covering.
What is your long answer?
That war is personal. This is what I've learned. War is not press releases. War is not journalism. These are facts that different people want you to engage with. But that's not really what war is.
What do mean by war being personal?
Digging into my own life, I realize that trauma is usually passed on, in one form or another. My parents were born in Italy before the Second World War. Every night at dinner, I was made to understand, in a loving way, how well I had it in Canada. I heard stories at family functions about a relative who had been killed or shot or hung. Or how someone in a prisoner of war camp had to drink their urine to survive, or that they were made to fight with guard dogs for scraps of food. Preserving those memories, in terms of how great we had it in Canada, became about storytelling. And the storytelling and the war is a personal part of where I came from.
How does that relate to what you do?
I don't chase after wars. I cover wars that are in some way personally connected to me. Canada went to war in Afghanistan. I'm Canadian. I wanted to document it. I went to cover the drug war in Mexico. I'm Italian. I grew up in an area where there was lots of organized crime. So, there's a personal connection. Realizing this was huge epiphany for me.
Do you have an opinion on whether news agencies or online sources should show the videos of ISIS's atrocities, such as the beheading of journalists?
These groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda, they're terrorists. Now, I've covered a terrorist attack. It terrorized me – quite a bit, actually. If people want the terrorists to accomplish what they are trying to do, they'll watch the videos.
Along with your photographs, your videos will be shown here. What should people take away from this exhibit?
There's a lot of war going on right now. It's important to realize that we're all a part of it. Canada was just in its first war since Korea, and I don't think people have a true understanding of what our country just went through. I think it's been forgotten very quickly. All the issues that surround war aren't going to go away. Until we deal with that collective memory, it's going to sit there. It's going to be a problem, and it's going to rear its head again.
Dispatch: War Photographs in Print, 1854-2008, to Dec. 7. Free. Ryerson Image Centre, 33 Gould St., 416-979-5164.
Louie Palu in conversation with curator Thierry Gervais, Oct. 1, 6:30 p.m. Free. Great Hall, Ryerson Image Centre.
Brad Wheeler