Q.

What influenced you most as a child growing up in North Carolina?

A.

Looking back, there was a certain irony in being from a liberal Republican family. Everybody else’s family I knew was a Democrat then. It was a time of change and opportunity. My father was instrumental in bringing James Harper, a black bartender, to serve as Superintendent of the local black school. I remember James telling me how important it was for students at his elementary school to get a head start in life if they were to rise above the limitations the small town held for them. When it comes to genocide, most of us are trapped by similar limitations that existed back then; we don’t see it, we don’t learn the lessons from it, and we make no effort to stop it.

Q.

What inspired you to become involved in photography?

A.

There was no definitive moment but as a teenager I do remember an affinity for steam rooms. It wasn’t so much the heat, or even the isolation, but rather the haziness and fogginess of the room itself. I remember I could sit there and close my eyes for a few moments --- and then when I opened them --- for a few seconds everything would be very clear. I still go to steam rooms whenever I’m at a spa or ski area and I pretend I’m taking a photograph through the steam. It requires focus. That’s what I try to do with photography…perhaps it’s to bring clarity to issues and situations that seem indistinct.

Q.

Do you use flash equipment?

A.

Never, except for digital snapshots today. There were no digital cameras when I was 23 and had my first child. I found myself drawn to, and fascinated by taking pictures of the baby. I also learned early on that flashbulbs frightened her, so I became interested in using the available light. If it meant adjusting the shutter speed, aperture opening, or finding a way to lock my arm in a door jamb to gain stability --- I never use a tripod --- that’s what I did. Those techniques served me well in Albania, Rwanda, Auschwitz, and elsewhere. Not only are many people stunned by flashbulbs, but it is invasive, and often culturally offensive.

Q.

What was that defining moment when you knew you would write this book?

A.

As I describe in the book, it was Rwanda. The image of the Madonna in Ntarama Church in Rural Kigali surrounded by piles of skulls and bones, high heel shoes and purses, was so disturbing, there was the skeleton of an unborn child within its mothers frame that spoke of such loss that I have never forgotten it. Respected Hutu community leaders and even pastors facilitated the genocide to save their own lives or for bribes. When the Tutsi’s in that devoutly Christian country sought refuge in churches, they found none. In fact, some of the worst massacres occurred in churches. I knew then --- somehow, someway --- we have to find a way to stop this or stop pretending we live in a civilized world today.

Q.

What do you think needs to be done and is there anything the average person can do?

A.

One thing everyone can do is educate themselves. The next thing they can do is care enough to be vocal.

But for governments, I believe in a plan: First, an International Genocide Prevention Force, complete with air and all necessary tactical weaponry assembled and brought into any region where genocide is an immediate threat or is already underway. The level of arms and size of the force must be sufficient to stop the killings. Peacekeeping forces are pretty ineffective when there is no peace. Once the killing can be stopped, necessarily in a very short period of time (one million Tutsis were killed in fewer than 100 days in Rwanda --- and look at Kenya in just one month), diplomatic efforts must be initiated.

And lastly, there should be a court system in the country of the killings - not an outside court that has no ability to extradite the perpetrators. This court should have the authority to imprison and to enforce a trial. In order to prevent local corruption, the sentencing for the crimes needs to be monitored by a United Nations delegation made up of rotating representatives present at the trial. The need for outside transparency is imperative in any country that has withstood ethnic cleansing and genocide.

December 9, 2008 is the 60^th Anniversary of the Genocide Convention unanimously signed in Paris and adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations and agreed upon to prevent and punish the crime of genocide. It has not prevented the deaths of some 13 million people during that time. Perhaps one day we really can say, “Never again.”