Photographer of the stars turns to forgotten people

We live in a time defined by the huge flow of information coming our way. What used to be a novelty - photos of the American Civil War or live television images from Vietnam - is now commonplace.

"People and Places With No Name" highlights how fickle and detached we have become from the struggling people we encounter on a daily basis through the media. The important events that get all our attention one month are quickly substituted by the next conflict du jour.

In this haunting collection, Michel Comte strips conflict of everything but its human kernel. The omission of detailed information about each photo causes the viewer to transcend time and place. In these grainy, nonglossy, bleeding-to-the-edge-of-the-page photographs, we see the conditions of life that affect the common person for a lot longer than our media-driven attention would make us believe.

Alfredo Sosa is the Monitor's features photo editor.

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