Asleep on the street

Thanks for looking.

A shocking insight to a world apart from mine, a real wake up call for me, and I suspect a lot of other people who reside in relative luxury and bemoan every slight injustice, this reality is harsh, and the photograph disturbing, but the image is powerful and intensly thought provoking!

 

Vivid documentary shot!

 

Kind Regards

 

Alf

This hurts to look at. Very powerful.

Heartbreaking.

This picture is both painful and shocking to view. A fine piece of social documentary photography.

 

All the best,

 

Rob

Are you sure this person is asleep and not deceased? If I did not know better, I would swear this was a crime scene photo. Her skin is even mottled in a way that one sees within 24 hours of death

In all honesty, I have seen corpses, already starting to decomp, that did not look as bad as this

This style of documentary is much needed on this site and in western media that goes to great lengths to suppress these types of images. I am confident that he/she is quite alive, at least in one sense of the word.

As a photo and technically I think I can admit it is good...as a document it is showing crude reality and I think we have to face it and if it helps bring people to realise we have to help each other in this planet so why not...

 

What I don't like at all is this impression that I am watching a wild life animal image taken with a telephoto...for me this photo lacks respect to the subject in that it's a hard one taken from too far and with too little involvement...as a viewer I am tempted to treat it (and the subject) with disrespect and this is the main problem of this image...it would be much more powerful if it would bring the viewer to react and try to understand with humanity rather than turn the page...in that sense I think it is not a good one...I have nothing against crude images if they convey a minimum of respect and storry telling intentions...as a single image it simply does not work, even worse than not working for me...

Each person viewing images such as these is allowed their opinion.What makes you think I just took this shot and went away without doing anything for these people.?????

To Poster Laurent,

It obviously does work look at the emotion it evoked from you. An image is not always going to be sweet and cheerful, there are many horrible photos from wars I have seen that would make your skin crawl, and all were brought to you by photojournalists like Birte Ragland.

Birte the photo is very powerful, disturbing and I'm sure will generate more remarks like above. The people commenting need to look at your body of work and they may come away with a different perspective afterwards. But as you say, they are all entitled to an opinion.

 

Best Regards,

Holger

you did not understand what I said...I am not shocked by this image, but I would have found normal to be shocked because the subject is a serious one...

 

Basically....it's a kid's ass with a few flies...technically it's good...congratulations...

 

I have quite some books of photojournalist and have seen horrible image...this one is not horrible, it's an impersonal kid's ass image taken from far away it's nothing else than that...I have never seen an image like that from good and respected photojournalist maybe with some reasons (i. e. a minimum of respect and story telling intentions)...an impersonal kid's ass from any country does not make a photojournalist image...

 

...now it's your image, your editing and you do what you want...

 

Don't get me wrong I am just commenting this particular image and the editing...I know Birte has some good image in her portofolio...

 

To answer your question Birte I do not know what you did after taking the shot...I am just commenting your image because you asked for critique in the critique forum, nothing more...

This is indeed a powerful statement and a dramatic image and as such i have rated it 6/7. I might have taken a 2nd one to give me more of the surroundings but that is just me. Well done!

 

perhaps you may be interested in seeing Chicken a la Carte http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/1081/Chicken-a-la-Carte"'>click here

You could have taken this image from many different angles.....distances away.....but yes what you end up with is a photo of a child's uncovered behind, dirty, bitten, a home for many flies.....

 

I think the most important part was to get the 'reaction' that I immediately responded with. Shock, shame.......sadness........we all know life has many degrees of inhumanity all over our earth.....and with the earthquake in Haiti.....I can't even imagine the images I know I and many more would not be able to face.

 

No matter how you decided upon your POV.............how do you treat a child living like this with respect........you take the photo......and just hope that others will respond to how 'raw' this little one is living. To me, that is RESPECT. I know you cut your trip short due to helping out so many with funds....hopefully, at least myself....I feel I've learned another meaning of the word 'RESPECT'....and you dared to spend your money where many of us would never consider spending our funds.......a five star resort on a tropical island or near a site that would render many great photos....congrats Brite...........you have a form or 'courage' that I know I at least at the moment do not possess...............most sincerely, Gail

Gail, just a simple question....if someone would shoot your ass in the street with an EF 100-400 you would still call it respect and good photojournalism...the fact that these people are poor doesn't mean the way we see them should be different...it only mean we have to help them...shooting their ass is the same as shooting your ass...now if you tell me someone shooting your ass in the street has your respect I could understand your opinion...

You have made your point Laurent,its your opinion others have theirs.Leave it at that!

Very powerful image, one that is difficult for our conscience to accept. It would be much easier to pretend this doesn't happen and go on about our happy lives. Like many street children poverty has robbed this child from dignity. What is indecent about this is that people walk by emotionless. For many this poor child is not a person anymore he's a write off to society. This is the grim reality of these poor lives. I applaud your courage in taking and showing the world these images Birte. Regards - michel

I have to agree with Laurent Jaussi,

The photo by it self has no real context and does convey a disrespectful undertone.

I'm not accusing you of being disrespectful, just rather that the photo has that undertone.

 

Also I have to say it didn't envoke a emotional responce from me, not that I think you care if I have a emotional responce or not.

Call me jaded or whatever but this photo doesn't move me to action.

 

Is the child sick or are they burns from abuse?

Living conditions, I haven't a clue... Until I look at your body of work and then I get a idea.

 

However one shouldn't have to look at the body of work to get the context, the photo should stand on it's own.

With all of the amazing topics to photograph in India I'm not sure I see the necessity for this. Yes, there are thousands of people sleeping on the street, but the average toddler living on the street spends most of the day smiling and playing with friends, even if they're walking around barefoot in a garbage dump. People living on the street in India are not nearly as despondent as photographers make them out to be. I have spend many hours personally interacting with them, letting them take photographs with my equipment, sharing tea and biscuits, and laughing and having a good time. This tells a very small part of the story. I would also never take this photo without verbal permission from the parents. just my 2p.

Here are a couple of typical mothers and babies living on the street in Mumbai. It also does very little good to give people in this position money. Give to very old homeless people with no family and no one paying any attention to them. There are countless such people in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata.

http://fireecology.org/images/123.jpg

 

http://fireecology.org/images/456.jpg