Liberian Literary Magazine
brings them face to face with the devastations of war. Andrew at one point remarks,“ This doesn ' t feel like my life”, when confronted with the hollowed out structures his family had once inhabited. There is no sense of nostalgia to be found for the brothers in the physical structures of Liberia. They find that even Andrew’ s simian friend, a research monkey named Betsy, is also dead. They are denied a safe, comfortable, nostalgic return to the images of their old photographs. As the brothers realize the physical landscape no longer reflects the Liberia they once knew, the focus lands squarely on the most important aspect of any nation, its people. The Topham’ s in particular were determined to find a Liberian man who had worked for their family in their youth and who they had been especially close to, a man named James Morris. They were unable to find him, but they were able to find his son, Jefferson Morris, called“ Jeff”, in honor of Jeff Topham, who his Father had minded as a boy. The film also introduces us to a bevy of Liberian Exchem exemployees, middle aged men now, all anxious for the company to return operations in Liberia and return a standard of living long since vanished. The brothers are careful to make it clear they have no real power in this matter, they ' re photographers, not Exchem reps, but they do set up a picture of the Liberian employees to take back to their Father in Canada. Along the way the Tophams earnestly struggle with legitimate feelings of guilt regarding the current state of Liberia. They openly as their Father if he thinks his shotgun shells contributed to the destruction of the 1990s. When they found Becky the monkey dead on their return, Andrew was humorously surprised that the Monkees did not welcome and console him as human beings would. When he purchases food for the remaining Monkees of the research group Becky was a part of, he realizes how much easier it is to help animals than human beings, a constant criticism many people have for well-meaning liberal activists. Helping human beings requires sustained effort for beings that have free will and may not repay your efforts in the ways one would expect. They realize this as they agonize over how to best help James
Promoting Liberian literature, Arts and Culture
son, Jeff’ s namesake“ Small Jeff”, who dreams for a chance to finish school and possibly be sponsored by the Tophams to study abroad. It is not indicated whether the two handsome brothers are married or not, but it seems they might be single bachelors without families. Taking on Small Jeff would seem to pose a large responsibility for men who have not had children of their own yet. But their return to Liberia and search for Jeff’ s father, serving as ambassadors as well for their own parents, underscore their deep connection to the Liberian people. In the end, the Tophams contribute the most through their art form, photography. The great African American activist Frederick Douglas felt that pictures were a powerful weapon in the Black struggle for dignity and respect. In“ Liberia 77” photographs are a tool for remembering oneself and one ' s life. As a Liberian proprietor of a photo shop remarks,“ photo is life.” The Tophams render service to Liberia by giving gifts of their artistic photo’ s to many people they meet, and eventually by meeting with Liberian government officials such as Madame Ellen Johnson Sirleaf herself. And their work has continued since the movie on the Liberia‘ 77 website, where anyone can upload images of Liberia during more peaceful times, as a testament to our children that Liberia is a nation that had its conflicts, as all nations do, but is not a hellhole of perpetual war and instability. The Tophams in this way provide a magnificent example of how any Liberian artist or artist interested in Liberia can serve her, by using their talent to help people recognize the multi-faceted beauty of life in Liberian form. Please visit www. liberia77. com to purchase the film on DVD and to participate in the Topham brothers’ ongoing Liberian historic photography database.
Henrique Hopkins
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