A street vendor just closed his little shop and checks if everything is securely fastened, Lahore, Pakistan, August 1, 2003. This man is not responsible for the graffiti on the wall !!!

your opinion about this pic?

A picture with a message,wonderful journalistic approach!!!!

Michael, i knew you would like it :-)

 

I don't think this picture really conveys a clear message. yeah it says "Bush is killer" on the wall, but there is nothing supporting that emotion in this photo. The guy is just wrapping up shop & seems to be indifferent to the statement above him (at the time of this photo). It draws away from what could have been a more powerful photograph. Even with the caption, there is no strong emotion. One does not play off the other.

very cool...

Heather, I appreciate your comment but it shows that you don't know much about the political situation in Pakistan and the US-Pakistan relation. The average Pakistani men and women suffer a lot, this man can be sentenced to death for the smallest crime because he's poor (he owns a shop (?) and a bike, he probably can't read english so how can he show emotions to what is written above his head, even if he could read it it would be dangerous to react on the message, cops, military and secret service are numerous here) and the US government is supporting this regime. Maybe another thing, Pakistan and the US are two of the four countries in the world that sentence minors to death. In Pakistan they hang them for the smallest crime!

I get what you are saying & I don't dispute it, but your photo doesn't convey any of that to me. If you need to explain the situation (which I am aware of) in such depth, then the phot isn't doing a very good job of it. The Bush Is Killer makes that statement loud & clear, but there is nothing tieing the man with bike to it. His image doesn't convey the political climate there or the hardship or much of anyting, really. It looks like a guy bending over the back of his bike. This is all IMO, of course

Heather, You might be right. This is just a feature with no strong emotions. The problem is that you'll only find strong political emotions in the streets of Pakistan when it's set up by the government or the religious opposition (who's probably resposible for this graffiti), so fake emotions. This is just a daily life photo. Best regards

"Bush is killer" is not original ha ha. I do like the picture

Hoi Geert, het is een wolk...

Als persfotograaf is het niet evident de esthiek op het voorplan te brengen en dat hoeft ook niet altijd.. Hier ben je daar echter heel goed in gelukt. Profinciat en veel succes met je verdere opdrachten.

Perhaps there is a link. Perhaps he is poor because Bush keeps him that way. Perhaps he will die young from poor health because the west controls the global economy. Keep the rich rich and the poor poor.

I think that the message and the subject below the message go together very well. Even though he might not be the one who wrote it, it must be how a lot of people in Pakistan are feeling right now, obviously.

 

This fits very well because it shows what an average person in the area may have, which would be considered close to nothing here in the United States. The message is how many of them feel, people who are struggling for life and survival every day, feeling angry and helpless in their situation. Without the man and his shop, the image would just be a message that could be anywhere by anyone. With him there, it is a powerful message that puts it all into perspective.

Reminds me of Monty Python's Life of Brian, Scene 8, you know the one:

 

[scary music]

 

CENTURION: What's this, then? 'Romanes Eunt Domus'? 'People called Romanes they go the house'?

 

BRIAN: It-- it says, 'Romans, go home'.

 

CENTURION: No, it doesn't. What's Latin for 'Roman'? Come on

Seen as a long lasting piece of artwork, such current day political pictures quickly loose originality... You seen this picture a few years in the future and you are bored. But still, it's first of all nicely done, AND it's important to have such pictures... I still wanna see more of them! (http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=1610445)

I like your folder very much. Your work is emocionally very strong ... This is what's the most important thing in photohraphy ... Regards, Veronika. :)

Thank you for your very nice comments, I appreciate it a lot.

Hi Geert!

 

I can follow the arguments that the picture and it´s message are at least not obviously fitting together but you´re right: everyone that knows the least about the situation in the countries over there finds a connection!

 

You must have had a hell of a time in Pakistan, in the bare meaning of this words!

 

Grees,

I will repeat my words again and again, 99% of the people are good!!! I'm really not here to start this kind of talk, I'm just interested in the impact of my pix (looks like it works). It's nice I get more positive reactions than negative ones!

BTW, I'm not yet gone.

 

Best Geert

Re Heather's remarks, I think that the indifference of the street vendor to the message on the wall, the lack of emotion in the image, does tell us something. It may tell us that despite the images on the evening news, which show us chanting crowds, many people in Pakistan are not inflamed about politics and are not rabidly anti-western.

 

The contradiction of the message on the wall vs. the banal activity of the man in the picture makes the picture more complex than your average protester-waving-sign shot, and in the long run may make it a more significant picture.

To my thinking, The anti Western cult in many poor countries, is very present in that photo. The lack of connection between the 2 elements connect them very strongly together. The dictatoric regime and the ordinary citizen Juxtaposed together. The one want to survive, the other want to rule.Strong expression ,Geert. Pnina Evental