In the rehabilitation center for disabled children in Thuy An, near Hanoi, children whose parents fought in Agent Orange infected regions are cared.

I see fear! This child is not looking at the photographer. She is probably looking at the care taker. Majority of these children are mentally disabled. This picture tells me that she is eating a bowl of noodle that is hard to come by. She is afraid that it might be taking away from her any minute now. Having a half brother in a government drug rehab in Saigon, I can tell you that majority of these kids are extremely afraid of caretakers/guards. This is a powerful photograph. 30 years after the war, you still can feel and see the remnant.

That's interesting. I didn't see fear but know very little about the circumstances you mention.

 

I see a hint of a smile. One of the things that I like about the picture is the expression of the child. At first glance, it's a kid eating a bowl of something off the floor - something I was known to do as a kid. It's not till after I looked at the photo for a moment that I put the context together. No matter what else is going on or what her circumstances, she's a kid and that is peaking out in the photo.

To John:

 

It does seem that photos can sometimes do what words cannot--at least for some persons. I also don't underestimate the power of the images of war to mobilize public opinion, and thus I cannot understand the rather cautious approach of our own press right now. I see a lot more on the Spanish channels, which will show pictures that they get from Islamic sites.

 

As for these kinds of pictures, I think that they almost have to be painful to look at in order to be effective, a sad paradox. By the way, I would like to see some of your own work from time to time.

 

To Roland: I forgot to congratulate you on getting the PoW in my first posting. This is first-class photojournalistic work.

Landrum, I'n working on it (shooting :-). I want to post newish stuffm nothing special. ...I've been scanning-technique-learning, fooling with my ancient HP4/2475 from 60s/70s until recently.

 

Roland's work proves again that an image can as righteously stand alone as simply providing support for words...or it can symbolize something profound without meeting any conventional standards. Think about Capa's photos at Omaha Beach, for example.

It is an excellent photo and the story behind it so strong that I cannot separate story and photo. This means probably that it is excellent photojournalism. The aim is to give the story and I believe that in this case the message is clear to the point that the title is almost unecessary. thanks for sharing. Thanks also for the selection of the pow, it is I think the most interesting selection I have seen for a long time now. Highlights behind the child maybe need to be a little toned down....

When I first looked at this, W. Eugene Smith's Minimata flashed into my head. Obviously much more severe than this, but it's the pain of innocence recalled. As others have stated, this is the stuff that escapes the news; it's up to the individual to captures these scenes. I'm glad the elves picked this, it lends balance to the forum. Great shot, Roland.

OK, I was finally able to download the entire folder, and I correct my comment above. Smith's Minimata is not much more severe than this; the scenes captured here by Roland are extremely disturbing. Great, gutsy work.

Thanh Huynh, June 27, 2005; 02:21 P.M.

"I see fear! This child is not looking at the photographer. She is probably looking at the care taker. Majority of these children are mentally disabled. This picture tells me that she is eating a bowl of noodle that is hard to come by. She is afraid that it might be taking away from her any minute now. Having a half brother in a government drug rehab in Saigon, I can tell you that majority of these kids are extremely afraid of caretakers/guards."

 

Exactly what I thought was articulated by Thanh. Roland have you tried doing this (getting in to one such centers) in Germany, for example? How much money you have to pay to the guards/ people in charge of such places to let you in take photos of such vulnerable children?

 

Gutsy? Heck, No!

 

Sick!

You see what's NOT happening here ... the gushing over ... Oh fabulous image 7/7 ect: ... people are talking about how the photo affects them and not photoshop and tech stuff ... on one level photos and or digimages deal with eye candy on another they touch you in a different place. In the end which do you think will stay with you longer?

One of the best POWs I've seen because it makes people stop in their tracks and discuss what's behind the image. I immediately saw fear in the expression, too, like the child is afraid the meal will go away before he or she finishes it. To me, this is not a typical child in a typical household. I don't think it's the strongest image in the folder, but it catches the viewer. The folder in its entirety must be viewed. It's shocking, but tells a horror story that still exists.

Well done!

From BBC webshite. The Legacy of Agent Orange.

This painful image is in a different class from any previous POW in this forum...

This is from the folder

A very powerful photograph from a moving portfolio of pictures!

The whole portfolio, as many have said, is deeply affecting. This image is

perfect to me--in terms of composition and tonality and all of the technical

issues--which aren't necessary in hard-edged documentary work like this,

given the point is to tell the story and not make something beautiful (although

this is beautiful). The one thing I'd say though, is that since the child's

expression seems mischievous to me, I don't know if she must eat in that

position because of what happened to her or if she's acting out of fun. Maybe

the context of the whole series clarifies it; otherwise what I think when I view it

is, can't someone have the compassion to help her? Is she always left to eat

like that? With regard to Scott's comment about the color, I think color can

detract from gesture and context if the photographer doesn't know how to use

it as an overall part of the expression of what he wants to say. Thomas

Hoepker's work on the Maya is necessary in color because color is so vital to

their expression as a people, whereas here it may not be. Steve McCurry's

work is based on color and communicates context and meaning precisely

through color. My point is, that the decision isn't an arbitrary one, but rather,

what medium works best in conveying the overall point. Often though, when

somebody attempts documentary work in color and doesn't think about this,

the impression you can be left with is that of a snapshot, i.e., the meaning is

lost on you--unlike the PBS image posted above, where you are more

horrified by the results of chemical warfare precisely because of the glaring

color.

...sorry, I meant BBC, not PBS...

Congratulations first to the image choice and also to the engaging work of the photographer.

What a change to the weeks before. It showes very clearly that "photography" is living with the subjects and the content and the range of messages the medium transports is almost endless..

For me this image is 95% about the emotions it tries to evoke (together with other images in the folder). Technically its clearly not the best image you will ever see, but trying to deal with one of the "heavier" topics in South East Asia and make us think about the "losers" of wars once more from a different perspectiv...sadening.

I just hope that effect is not lost on whoever is looking at the images and encourages us to think more of "our" actions as an individual, a group or a nation. A nation at war is a horrific situation and nobody ever ends up winning..not the losing side and not the "winning" side. Unfortunately the ones who deserve it the least end up carring the burden..the next generation. In this case its very "literally"...unfortunately.

i am very glad the elves have chosen this picture for the POW. not necessary because this is the best or anything like that. i am happy because through this choice i had a chance to see roland's work and i am very glad i did.

what america does to the world..

@umesh: I'm not American and I have no intention to defend the American Politics, when it comes to wars, as their motifs are very questionable, but lets not forget, that noone is without sins and wars and injustice is happening not only in the US. I rather like to see that this suffering people remind us to question or own behaviour wherever we walk.

Staying with question BW or color a bit. I agree with Dino. BW is still the choice of many great documentary photographers today. There are reasons to this, as color is an additional element, that becomes the content itself at times and might (not must) distract from the message.

I'm in no doubt however, that some of the old masters would have embraced color or even digital if they would have had the possibility at hand.

Dino mentioned Steve McCurry, who is an excellent example, that documentary,photojournalism and color photographs work together. Btw. many great ones proven that in NAT Geo over the years and keep doing it.

Umesh, a couple of years back when your home country and the Pakistanis appeared to be about ready to engage a little bit of nuclear conflict, who exactly do you think it was that was able to cool that situation? And if and when Musharraf finally falls victim to one of the numerous attempts on his life and the Pakistani nukes fall into the hands of the Islamofacists, to whom will your country look to keep Delhi from being vaporized? You know the answer as well as I do.

 

As far as Viet Nam goes, just as in any war, there are tragic consequences for innocents. You'll get no argument from me on that. But the hundreds of thousands of South Vietnamese and the 2 million plus Cambodians who were slaughtered by the Viet Cong after America pulled out might have a slightly different take on the matter than the simple-minded view which you so eloquently expressed.

should have read . . . slaughtered by the Viet Cong and the Khmer Rouge after America pulled out . . .

The photos don't lie, Jeffrey, but rationalizations for militaristic excess almost always do. It is certainly convenient to deny the fact, as you do, that "Western" involvement in Southeast Asia helped to destabilize everything there politically and economically--but there is no denying the photos and the horrors that they document. To listen to you tell it, "Westerners" have been the great saviors of Asia. You can say it, but they will not buy it. Before Nixon's incursion into Cambodia in 1970, there was a fairly stable situation there. Our "benign" intervention actually could be argued as having triggered the events that led to the Khmer Rouge's excesses, just as intervention in Iraq could be interpreted as having created a huge training ground for terrorists. Since we cannot resolve such issues with the usual arguments, we can at least show the world the concrete legacy of greed-driven violence documented in B&W (or color, if you prefer). Perhaps you have a benign take on centuries of European colonialism in that region as well. You have bought into the whole rationale of the "white man's burden" and do not even seem to be aware of it. THAT is why we need photography, to help blow away such simple-minded rationalizations. Still, there are many who will look and look and will not see because they do not want to see.

 

More generally, in all parts of the world, I think that such photos as this help to put the lie to such simple-minded nationalistic interpretations of the "benign" military interventions which can be proffered to the world in the name of "freedom." The French, British, and Dutch interventions before ours likewise were based on some kind of glib rationales, denying the underlying economic motivation for most interventions.

 

Since we will never resolve those questions, however, it is good that we can document with photos the definite evils that war quite obviously did bring--and will always bring. You can rationalize that away all you want with nationalistic and militaristic bombast, but it won't go away because the photos won't go away. Wave a flag if you want, as so many other countries and cultures have before. While you are doing that, someone else will take the pictures. The idea that military intervention saves the world is probably the most simple-minded nonsense that nationalism is capable of producing. --Lannie