The New York Times‘ “Truth” ad campaign — launched during the Oscars — is unusual.
A variety of spots, in an array of mediums, hammer home one theme: “The truth is hard to find.”
One of the most compelling is a quick video series of photographs. Desperate immigrants, piled on rafts, seek safety and freedom.
A man’s voice says: “I see fear. I see desperation. But I also see hope.”
He continues: “I feel it’s important to take photographs that will make a difference.”
At the end, he says: “I’m Tyler Hicks. Photojournalist for the New York Times.”
Hicks is a 1988 graduate of Staples High School. He’s won 3 Pulitzer Prizes. He’s documented wars, tragedies and a few triumphs all over the globe, from Afghanistan to Albania, Kosovo to Kenya.
He — and fellow Pulitzer-winning/Times photojournalist/Staples grad Lynsey Addario — were abducted in Libya, and spent 6 harrowing days in captivity.
In 2012 Hicks was in Syria, when Beirut bureau chief Anthony Shadid died of an asthma attack. Hicks helped carry his body across the border to Turkey.
The truth is indeed hard to find. Somehow, Tyler Hicks brings it closer to us all.
(Hat tip: Jim Honeycutt)
Tyler Hicks