Nothing short of amazing

I was confused at first when I saw the website, because I didn't see any pictures. After scrolling down to find some, I noticed the links for the multimedia projects and decided to click on one just to waste some time and check them out. They were nothing short of amazing.
The first multimedia project I viewed was "A New Dawn?" about a mother of five in Kentucky who was strung out on drugs. I admit I am not always sympathetic to drug abusers because I feel it's a problem they brought on themselves. This was the first time I was moved by a story like this one. I actually felt like I was one of her family members or something by the content of the photos and the quality of her story. After having taken pictures myself, I have so much respect for the photographer. It reminded me of a broadcast story in that the photos matched very well with the dialouge, but there was nothing else distracting in the scenes that took my attention away from this mother.
The second multimedia that really moved me was "The Malboro Marine". What is interesting about this project is that the title suggests it may about a Marine who smokes cigarettes, but it isn't. Cigarettes are tied heavily into the photos and setting of the project, but the photographer and the soldier never directly talk about it. I think that's the essence of good story-telling. Neither the photographer or the soldier who narrarated the piece ever had to directly talk about the cigarettes, but it's evident in the shots and in his voice that it's deeply entrenched in him, but that there's so much more to his problems than cigarettes.
On a personal level, these projects left me very depressed. For hours after watching them I couldn't bring a smile on my face because I kept thinking about the pictures and the problems of this world. After having some more time to reflect on them, it revealed to me even more the power of good story telling. Here I was just killing some time in between classes, and these projects changed my outlook on the world. Each story dealt primarily with one person, but there was something in their story that made a connection with you. I don't think I'll ever forget that Kentucky mother, or even look at single mothers with numerous children the same. And it's not to say that every mother or every soldier or every encaged animal (from "Black Market") has the same story, but the point is that there is a story for every subject. I was nothing short of amazed.