RYAN SPENCER REED

INTERVIEW with a traveling photographer
by Melissa Gibson

How many times in my college experience have I seen the wide-eyed, open- mouthed expressions on peoples’ faces when injustices are exposed? However, it is as if this nakedness comes in and out with the wind. Seconds later our lips turn upward in a laugh, and we are running in the quad toward a frisbee, not running away from a gun. Our boyfriends take us on dates and sex is just a choice. When does the six-year-old Sudanese girl choose? Or does she just choose not to cry? I am not blaming Samford students, like myself, for our apathy, but I am acknowledging it. It is our duty to know and make known the truths of today. What does this look like? Is it possible to dream like we did as children? Can we change the world?

Ryan Spencer Reed was in his sophomore year at Calvin College when the road to his purpose became defined. “I came to college with an idea about where I wanted to be and how I wanted to live my life, but it completely changed based on an encounter I had with the world around me,” Reed said. As a pre-med physics major, Reed sought after a “social manipulation tool” to make a positive impact on society. He soon found an outlet in photography. With three uncles in the profession, Reed experimented taking pictures initially as a hobby. Two years later he sold his car to pay his way to Africa, armed with a camera and a passion to provide others with an encounter similar to his own.

“I was born white in America,” Reed said, humbly pointing out his unearned privilege, “I won the galactic lottery.” In the past four years, Reed has traveled to South African, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanania, Chad, and Kenya documenting displacement of Africans due to war. His concern is the responsibility we have as Americans. Are we to take our “lottery” winnings and keep them solely for ourselves? We are the very ones propagating inequities with our indifference. After all, “we are the most influential and affluent society ever to walk the face of this earth,” Reed added. Beyond America, Reed sees the world not as a collection of separate places, but as one interconnected community to whom we are accountable.

“What we don’t realize is that the issue in Sudan is not just a Sudanese issue. It’s not just Darfur, it’s the whole country. And it’s not just the whole country, it’s the whole region. But it even goes deeper than that. This is not just war – this is genocide.” Reed is confident that people need more than just a healthy awareness. We are obligated also to know why these problems exist and what things can be done about them. “That is what journalists do – document work that is done to raise awareness.”

Reed’s favorite quote by President Harry Truman says a lot about his character and motivation: “The only thing new in this world is the history we do not know.” According to Reed the past it what concerns us. It is our job to know and to act. We have the resources, but we don’t use them enough. “On an individual level there are a lot of things that civilians of this country can do,” he said. “But you have to start locally.” According to Reed, we can demand more coverage of world issues, we can write letters of appreciation for justice sought, and we can advocate for a non-profit approach to the news. “There is a shameful percentage of what we could and should contribute,” he admitted. “We have an obligation to protect human life. As long as there’s one person in slavery, none of us are free.”