时代周刊 摄影记者的自白

What I saw

我所看到的

LIKE MOST PEOPLE, I'D HEARD ABOUT THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC¹.

和大多数人一样，我也听说过阿片类药物滥用的事。

IT WAS ESPECIALLY hard to get my mind around a statistic² from 2016: almost as many deaths from drug overdoses as in all of America's recent wars combined.

但我真的很难理解2016年的一个统计数据：因药物过量死亡的人数几乎和美国近年来在战争中死亡的人数加起来一样多。

But numbers are an abstraction.

毕竟，数字只是一个抽象的概念。

I had no idea what it looked like on the ground.

我还是不知道真实情况是什么样。

The only way to make real sense of it, I told my editors, was to see what happens to individual human beings, one by one.

我对我的编辑们说，要理解事情的真相，唯一的办法就是逐一考察那些个体受到的影响。

Photography can cut through abstractions and rhetoric³ to help us understand complex issues on a human level.

照片可以打破抽象和修饰，帮助我们从人的层面理解复杂的问题。

Never is photography more essential than in moments of crisis.

摄影，唯有在危难关头，才显得愈发重要。

To witness people suffering is difficult.

目睹他人被痛苦折磨是种煎熬。

To make a photograph of that suffering is even harder.

把他人被痛苦折磨的样子拍下来更煎熬。

The challenge is to remain open to very powerful emotions and, rather than shutting down, channel them into the images.

因为你要对非常强烈的情绪保持开放的心态，将这些情绪呈现到照片里而不是屏蔽在照片之外。

It is crucial to see with a sense of compassion⁴ and to comprehend that just because people are suffering does not mean they lack dignity.

做这份工作，至关重要的一点是要带着慈悲的心肠去看待，去理解他们遭受痛苦并不代表他们就没了尊严。

Over the past 35 years, my work as a photojournalist has taken me to other countries to document wars, uprisings, natural disasters and global health crises.

在过去的35年里，摄影记者的职责促使我去了很多国家，拍摄那里的战争、暴动、自然灾害和全球健康危机等问题。

In revisiting my own country, I discovered a national nightmare.

而重新回到我自己的祖国后，我发现了一场全国性的噩梦。

But the people living through it aren't deviants.

问题是，承受这一噩梦的并不是什么奇人怪人。

They are ordinary citizens, our neighbors, our family members.

而是普通公民，是我们的邻居，我们的家人。

I don't think I met one user whom I would consider to be a bad person.

我没有碰到过一个我觉得人品不好的吸毒者。

No one wants to be an addict⁵.

没有谁想成为瘾君子。

I also saw signs of hope, particularly from the people who are dealing⁶ with the crisis at the street level.

但我也看到了希望的曙光，特别是那些已经在周边社区积极行动的人。

Some of them are former users who have lifted themselves up and are using their experience to help others.

他们中的一些人自己也有吸毒史，但他们已经摆脱了那种生活，现在正在用自己的亲身经验来帮助他人。

They are refusing to allow our country to be defined by this problem.

他们拒绝接受毒品问题成为我们国家的标签。

Instead, they are helping⁷ us define ourselves by finding solutions.

相反，他们正设法帮助我们自己来定义这个国家。

We must join them.

所以，我们必须加入他们的行列。

1 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

2 statistic   

n.统计量；adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• Official statistics show real wages declining by 24%.官方统计数字表明实际工资下降了24%。
• There are no reliable statistics for the number of deaths in the battle.关于阵亡人数没有可靠的统计数字。

3 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

4 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

5 addict   

v.使沉溺；使上瘾；n.沉溺于不良嗜好的人

参考例句：

• He became gambling addict,and lost all his possessions.他习染上了赌博，最终输掉了全部家产。
• He assisted a drug addict to escape from drug but failed firstly.一开始他帮助一个吸毒者戒毒但失败了。

6 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。