How to tell a compelling story: learn from Poppy
The world of journalism is constantly searching for new ways of storytelling. And sometimes it demonstrates its innovative power, presenting us with suprising and compelling forms. Such a story is "Poppy", the story of Afghan heroin, that in its journey over the world devastates people, communities and societies. Two Dutch journalists and photographers created this story.
The journey from East to West
What began in the early 1990s as a series of news assignments, evolved into a personal project and close collaboration between Knoth and De Jong. Their journey begins in Afghanistan, tracks through Central Asia, the Balkans, Dubai, Somalia and ends in London. This modern trade route, a dark version of the ancient Silk Road, comes alive through the voices, faces and stories of farmers, soldiers, smugglers, prisoners, bankers, prostitutes, addicts and border guards.These stories are easily overlooked or bypassed as too complex for mainstream media. For De Jong and Knoth however, they were key components of their in-depth investigation.
Innovative presentation
As Poppy evolved to illuminate the network of heroin’s cultivation and distribution across the globe, it outgrew conventional and short form journalistic formats - necessitating its own, more immersive experience. The four screen multimedia installation created by Peter Claassen, who was responsible for the concept and the editing, and the soundscape created by Mark Glynne, combines still and moving imagery, sound bites from radio reports, quotes originating from official reports and news, and excerpt from youtube, and thus creating a cinematic experience for the visitor.
Jeroen Kummer and Arthur Hermann designed the 492 pages thick book by weaving images and text together, not pulled back by traditionally views into a raw stream of stories shaking the readers mind. Connecting the dots between supply and demand, between us standing here in Europe and the locations and conflicts that can seem so distant on news reports, the complexity and global scale of Poppy mean that it is a story which is not simple to tell, but one that matters to us all.