Ted Talk 'Photographing The Hidden Story' Analysis

There is a famous quote out there that states, 'A picture is worth a thousand words.' This concept, along with the isolation and redemption among struggling people, is the focal point of Ryan Lobo's TED talks.

Specifically, in his TED talk 'Photographing the Hidden Story,' Lobo dives deeper into the themes of isolation and redemption. Lobo's main idea is that while you endure isolation, you can redeem yourself and the actions of your countries.

This idea is evident in all Lobo's stories, but most explicitly in the story of the women peace-keeping forces deployed in Liberia. The women have been situated in a quite challenging situation as Liberia has previously gone through a civil war with just over 200,000 deaths.

Tragedy and isolation have flooded the streets as thousands of women have been scarred by rape and crime on a dramatic scale. The control of the United Nations within Liberia is the responsibility of all women. They utilize innovative persuasion and negotiation strategies that are contradictory to the traditional armed and aggressive approaches used by men in the past.

The commander informed Lobo that 'women could gauge a potentially violent situation much better than men,' and that they could effectively de-escalate the problem in a non-aggressive manner. The story strongly supports the main idea of his presentation as it includes elements of both isolation and redemption whilst dark times are upon you.

Continuing on from the main idea, Lobo's opinion changes significantly from the early stages of his journey to the end. One of the thoughts he developed previous to these encounters was that it was impossible to achieve success or recognition.

However, once Lobo fully let go of those goals and began to work from a position of compassion any target he considered impossible to achieve fell on their own. Lobo often speaks about being isolated through discussions. This is when he was in a lesser place to fulfil himself.

Lobo tells a story about when he went to Liberia to film a documentary about a brutal warlord named General Butt Naked. The General claimed to have more than 10,000 killed throughout the civil war in Liberia. He was a man expected to be despised by the country due to excessive brutal and devastating crimes.

The General finally came to a place of understanding of what he did and he became very isolated by not only his country, but even himself. As Lobo and the General travelled, Lobo thought to himself that there was little hope of anyone possibly forgiving a man like this.

The General believed that his actions were not redeemable, and he would live isolated forever. Nevertheless, as Lobo and the General travelled through his country they were both astonished at what had happened. The General has been forgiven by the people.

As Liberians gazed into the eyes of a man who slaughtered their parents, mothers, relatives, and friends, they miraculously found it in their hearts to forgive this man. Lobo was more surprised than the General himself as it opened his eyes to the possibility of forgiveness that he felt would not be possible.

The General was able to achieve success by claiming his redemption and forgiveness once he had let go and worked from a place of compassion similar to that of Lobo before his journeys.

Throughout Lobo's travels, he learned many things, the most powerful being that inspiration can be hidden beneath the darkness of a situation. The story of the women peace-keepers also supports this learning rather well.

The extreme nature of the situation that the women were placed in is what caused the inspiration to be hidden. Once Lobo had personally witnessed the role of women and the magnitude of it, he finally discovered the true inspiration that the women gave to him and the people of Liberia.

Lobo said that many women in Liberia had joined the parol just because of how powerful the influence on them was.

Finally, at the beginning of his presentation, Lobo briefly mentions something labelled 'compassionate storytelling.' He doesn't go into the depths of what this means to him, however as he tells his stories, it becomes quite clear.

In all of Lobo's stories, he tells them from his point of view. He's telling his own stories. These stories are not about myths or legends. The practise of observation is compassionate storytelling. It's about how you're building stories and telling the audience things that's happened to you. In order to demonstrate genuine compassion in your story, you have to experience it up close and personal.