Avoiding clichés

The images that you see in this header are a very important part of the site's design. They are my way of expressing what is both fun and quirky about Uganda in a manner that captures your attention (I got the idea from TaoofMac).

The images i use are not mine. I gather them from Flickr accounts that have either Attribution or Attribution-Share-alike Creative Commons licenses. I appreciate the fact that there are people out there who are willing to share their memories of Uganda with the rest of the world in a way that allows me to create something new using their content. This is a big part of what makes the web fun for me these days.

But for every image you see above, I have to sift through about 20 images of lions, elephants, crocodiles and that starving child who somehow manages to make it in front of every photographer's lens in all 53 African countries (One of these days, we are going to figure out a way for you to retire kid). These clichés are the images of Uganda that are out there. I have tried to avoid them, but I do not think I have been all that successful.

That the country should be depicted in this way is not surprising. Uganda's people and its government love to market the country as an exotic location so tourists can come and spend their money in our hotels, national parks and bars. It is the hand we have been playing since a young Winston Churchill first called the country "the pearl of Africa" back in 1908. So let the tourists and expats take their pictures and put them up on Flickr. But here at citizenuganda.com, I am looking for images that are, compared to game and landscapes, a little more nuanced in their expression of the lives of Uganda's people. If you have those images, and you would not mind sharing them, email me. I will credit you.