[charliezap]

Saugus Ma like many towns and cities has had its share of financial difficulties.
A couple of years ago the local citizenry was particularly worked up with what they perceived as town government mismanagement.So i grabbed my Pentax ist ds and took some shots that could possibly poke fun at the situation.This shot with a little photoshop made the local paper "NORTH SHORE SUNDAY" and was well received by the local populace.Bottom line is that one can use photography as a means of expression by a myriad of different paths.After all the revolution did start somewhere around here---Sorry my English friends--4th of July is a glorious day here in Massachusetts along with Patriots day Charliezap

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[Canada_Rockies]

I like it, Charlie. You "Zap"ped them.

[Mike Cash]

The way things are these days I'm surprised you haven't been hauled in for questioning somewhere for creating an image like that. Let a school kid do something creative like that and he'll be kicked out of school and given his own team of psychiatrists.

[Wheatfield]

Doesn't that contravene the Patriot Act or something?

[sholtzma]

Nice job! And congrats on its making the paper.

I hope photographers would more often realize and take seriously the power they have to create images that move people to act. For example, photography has a powerful role to play in politics. Here's an example:

Years ago I was heavily involved with the Sierra Club when I lived in Chapel Hill, NC. That club formed a Streamwatch group to monitor the health of an important urban stream running through town, Bolin Creek. I loved Bolin creek, had lived beside it once, hiked along it often, knew how ecologically rich and yet fragile it was. So, I joined the Streamwatch group to document its work photographically. Photojournalism is not my strength, but it seemed like a good cause, and I figured it would stretch me. Another photographer did the same thing, and between the two of us, we accumulated a very nice set of images. As it turned out, the Club puts its weight behind the idea of a greenway to run along the Creek. This greenway would allow people to walk across Chapel Hill and its sister city Carrboro entirely in natural surroundings. It also meant that the cities would care more about preserving the riparian environment. The Club asked me to put together a slide show about the creek for the Carrboro Board of Aldermen (the city council). I was able to document the fauna, the flora, the beauty, the way people enjoyed the creek, the threats to the creek, the effect of those threats on the size and shape of the creek, and so on. By the time the slide presentation was finished, you could feel the change of mood in the council room. That slide presentation did its part to help sway some swing votes to support the greenway. Now, people who live there take for granted that they have a great Greenway system. But photos helped make it possible.

I hope you will make more images that express the will of your town or that challenge people to think and feel differently. Best of luck.