Why editing is important

There is a book that I have been helping find images for, and it has been the constant stress of work for the past few months. The man who wrote the book (a 94-year-old who loves to remind you that he might not be around much longer) keeps pestering my boss on the status of the book, who then pesters me, and I in turn pester the editor who always responds "next week I should have a working proof." 2 months after he first said "next week," I finally got a proof!!

When I was looking through the proof, I came to one picture that we had not actually suggested for the book. I want you to picture this image - two Korean women, one holding a bag of groceries, her head tossed back in laughter, the other standing in a doorway, holding a toddler in her arms, smiling at the other woman. The caption? "Humanitarian project in DR Congo."