I saw Columbia University in a whole new light today. The streets were packed with protesters as Iran's President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was scheduled to be a guest lecturer.
At times I have wondered about how photography would be if it was coupled with sounds and or smells. Today was a day of sounds. Yelling, chanting, arguing and beeping. The sounds I heard were divided mostly into 3 categories- angry at Columbia, angry at Bush, and angry at Mahmoud's leadership and ideals. The atmosphere was very tense, political debates were erupting everywhere. One man was screaming at another man who was anti Bush, a Jewish man was yelling at a woman who was defending Iran. The only angle I did not see being defended today was Columbia. It seemed that the crowd was able to agree on just that, that the invitation should not have been extended. After watching this evenings news it seems to me that President Ahmadinejad said all the things that he should say, but we could have expected that- the man is not dumb- he is just not kind. At least not how we measure kindness here in the U.S.
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| Columbia University |
You can click on this square image above to see the pictures larger- or if the slide show is working below you can see them there. (the slide shows have had a mind of their own this week)
