[Leica] Women

[stikwa at comcast.net (Steve Barbour)]

On Jul 25, 2009, at 7:47 AM, Tina Manley wrote:

> At 10:42 PM 7/24/2009, you wrote:
>> Let every one use his own judgment - culture differs from country to
>> country. I for one refuse to take photographs of the very poor,  
>> homeless,
>> street dwellers, slum dwellers, beggars, etc which is a staple of  
>> every
>> visitor to the third world, and it leaves me angry that you take  
>> advantage
>> of people who cannot fight back, and strip them of what little  
>> dignity they
>> possess. To me that is much worse than a woman's bottom.
>> Cheers
>> Jayanand
>
> Or you could reaffirm their dignity by photographing them.  The  
> first medical mission I went on, I very carefully photographed the  
> mission doctors and nurses at work and avoided photographing local  
> campesinos.  A local girl asked me why I was photographing my  
> friends and not her family.  Were they not good enough to waste my  
> film on?  Was it because they had brown skin and were not  
> beautiful?  That's when I started staying with families and  
> photographing them and taking the photos back to give them.  They  
> are very proud, beautiful people and they want to be photographed.   
> Ask them.


while I fully understand Jayanand's feelings...I do agree with Tina  
that there is a way of photographing the poor, the sick, and the  
downtrodden that affirms them, respects and maintains their  
dignity...  and actually empowers them in a way that may be  helpful  
and beautiful.

I struggled hugely with this difficult issue when I photographed ill  
children, and I hope I succeeded.

Steve


>
> Tina
>
> Tina Manley
> www.tinamanley.com
>
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