Francine Orr has been a photographer with the Los Angeles Times since 1999. She has traveled and worked extensively in Asia and the Pacific, and in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, South Africa, Angola, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Orr also spent several years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Federated States of Micronesia. According to the Los Angeles Times, her interest in covering poverty issues grew from documenting women living in poverty in India and America. Orr has received numerous awards for her photography and writing.
I featured Francine's work in Uganda a few months ago, and the link to that post is here. She has now produced a photographic feature on AIDS in India and its incredible toll on human lives. The images are graphic and very powerful...regrettably, Francine's narration borders on the listless and has none of the compassion so evident in her photographs. Perhaps I'm too harsh in my criticisms of photojournalists' slideshows, but I feel that narration can either make or break meaningful projects such as this one. I'd much rather rely on captions (this one has them too) than a narration that does little to enhance the photographs.
Francine Orr's (Los Angeles Times) India: The New AIDS Capital.
