They also follow renowned photographers to foreign lands, dying to make a name for themselves instead of looking around in their own jungles where there are countless stories to be told that are relevant to their own people. In other words, I suggest a French photographer should look more into Marseille and racism towards north African immigrants rather than dream about Kabul and the Talebanese. What I am saying is that the source for creative, serious, concerned, interesting and, why not, beautiful photojournalism lies in our backyards, in our communities. In the enormously rich complexity that we create in our organized societies and in the need to know of our fellow tribesmen.

There is, of course, the problem of finding an outlet for this work. I am not trying to paint a rosy picture here. It is true that there is a tendency in many of the leading magazines to focus on fashion models, princes, movie stars and similar "fascinating" subjects. We may not like it but it's a fact of life because, let me add, they not only reflect the traditional "dream factory to hypnotize the masses" (yes I am saying this with some sarcasm) . They are also a manifestation of the enormous changes in industrialized societies at the end of the century, where the new industries of entertainment and information are replacing the traditional means of production.

We should, nevertheless, work with magazines and fight for the necessary space for our stories if, and this is a big IF, our stories are relevant, as I tried to explain previously. At the same time, I firmly believe we have underestimated the role of newspapers. We all agree that many magazines deal with subject matter we may qualify as "light" as mentioned before. Newspapers, on the other hand, by definition, cover a whole range of subjects that are more in tune with what we may think is relevant. Every day, everywhere, newspapers talk about domestic and foreign politics, economy, social matters, culture, sports, etc., etc. They have all kinds of sections and weekend magazines, they have space and use a lot of photography, though no always well.

When I say we have underestimated newspapers I am thinking of picture agencies and freelance photographers. There is a sense that it is almost demeaning to publish in newspapers, a total lack of interest in addressing that media. Yes, prices may be smaller, but the market is huge. This is a place where black and white is still dominant and where color is gaining ground and reproduction has improved enormously .

The lack of dialog between photographers and newspapers has created a gap that will not be easy to close. There is a kind of mistrust and ignorance between both sides. I also think that many newspapers use photography to fill holes between text and that there's is a lack of imagination amongst picture editors as to how to use pictures in their papers. So we should work with them and encourage a better use of our pictures.

Clarin is a daily newspaper published in Argentina. It has the largest circulation in Spanish speaking countries. Since I became its Picture Editor this last May, one of the things I had in mind was to create such a space. This is how this double page was born. Every Sunday, in the Second Section, we look in our jungles and try to tell stories with pictures. Here are some examples of what we are doing.