“Mejgon’s father sold her at the age of 11 to a 60-year-old man for two boxes of heroin,” Stephanie Sinclair, photographer. I am speechless, appalled, aghast, disgusted, shocked, dumbfounded. I am in disbelief. Yet I have to believe it because a picture speaks a thousand words. And with every single dream shattering story comes a crisply tragic photograph captured at the exact instant that allows one image to speak its one thousand words. The instant is the mouth; it lets the story flow unperturbed. That is the idea behind the layout of the photography archive blog VII. Each photo is given its own page and the image itself occupies the largest portion of the page. Although inconvenient at times, it is also something to note that one must scroll down in order to read the caption; it is as if the caption is there only if one really needs clarifications or specific details about the picture. The pictures and only the pictures are meant to be the focal points of the blog. In fact, the blog does not even run any advertisements, not even for its own store (there is just a small link on the top of every page that would lead a visitor to the store if desired).

The above quote was taken from a project done in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund and VII to hold a transmedia campaign entitled “Too Young to Wed”. This project captured the horrific practice of child marriage as well as the all too common domestic abuse that plagues the child brides. Nearly every single picture in the gallery is its own story, with its own perverse tale. Many other galleries displayed on the blog are organized in the same way, while other albums document one individual. In the album for Maternal Mortality, photographer Lynsey Addario follows a mother during the birth of her twins, from beginning to end. In another gallery, photographer Ed Kashi pixelates the story of former sugar cane field worker who now suffers from kidney failure, a decades old epidemic striking the region for an unknown reason. Thus, the blog is very informative as it draws light even to a widely overlooked issue that only impacts a small area.

All the collections are not as morose as these. There are galleries that document famous actors, actresses, gangsters, fashion shows, and more. The purpose of this blog is to share pictures of essentially everything that is happening in the world. Thus, there are yearlong projects documenting poverty and violence and new sapling projects such as the one covering the revolution in Egypt this year. Undoubtedly the most praiseworthy aspect of this blog is its refined rawness. Contrasting qualities that they are, if presided over with a fine eye, a balance is attainable. The pictures in these galleries are real – they are harsh and bloody and they capture the fleeting moments of life present in a dying woman’s eyes.

But the presentation of these images is not meant to scare away. Maybe someone more attuned to the technicalities of photography would be able to determine exactly what it is about the photographs, maybe their development or lighting, but each image is presented in the softest manner such terrible images can be displayed.

It is no surprise at all that each and every photo is presented in a stunning manner since, as the site proudly boasts, “VII now represents 23 of the world’s preeminent photojournalists.” Started in 2001, the site is not very old but it works in conjunction with extremely well established magazines such as The New York Times, Time magazine, and National Geographic. Such professionalism demands a formal tone that is prevalent throughout the whole website. The site lacks frivolity and spontaneity but considering that the purpose of the site is to inform on world issues and events, it is understandable that it lacks such levity. As an internationally recognized icon for photography, the site is heavily trafficked. The work of its photographers has also been displayed in museums such as the Whitney and the Louvre. With such talented photographers, it is logical that the site seems to be largely photographer run, meaning that there are no long articles penned by writers to accompany each picture. Instead, language is kept to a minimum, allowing the viewers to just absorb the images and reflect on the world today.