Child Slavery Photo

Photographer’s Note

It says that, about half of the total world population, about 3 billion, struggles to live on less than 2 dollars a day. You could read this, on an article about 21st Century Slavery in National Geographic September 2003 issue.

This is street scene,a town somewhere in Sabah. The child, probably less than 6 years old, is wrapped in towel, sitting on a cardboard, panhandling outside a departmental store.

With her is the usual articles of street panhandling. She has a plastic cup,a worn out t-shirt for the coin drop and other articles to express hardship/difficulty to pull your string of sympathy. And whatever coming from it.

Her female guardian is sitting, on the left outside the scene,watching her. Every few minutes she would come to collect the monies the little girl has attracted.

Coming passing behind the little girl, is a family of three. A little boy, with his mother holding him and his grandma. probably window shopping. Pretty contrasting don't you think. While other parentally correct children is walking happy with their parent, this little girl is eking out on the street.

To shoot this street scene, you need to shoot without your subject being aware. You need to shoot without looking through the viewfinder, a technique called Blind Shooting. Set your camera to the highest resolution, switch on all its focusing points and go on continuous shots. Chances are, a few of them would come out good even though you are using guess work on the framing. Be discreet and casual.

cmarino, Djipi, ishai, nwoehnl, PJE, Auslander, oochappan, Alain, digi-mom, daisy, kajspice, irene_nz has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

cmarino (2368) 2005-06-13 20:44

This is a nice piece of photojournalism. Unfortunately I'm very well familiar with this scene that happens in many parts of the world everyday. Maybe the day will come that no one will ever see a child being explored like this one.
I would give you a thousand points for this pix if possible.
Regards,

Celso

mjbuxton (46) 2005-06-13 20:45 [Comment]

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kclai (2267) 2005-06-13 21:38

Yo Rabani.
What a sad scene to start the day. Good composition with your "blind shooting" technique. With such sad facial expression while fowarding her hand towards begging. This is very sad to have such slavery in the 21st century. We hope that the Government should take this task to eliminate this kind of slavery.
Eric Lai

Aazragi (1916) 2005-06-13 22:34

Wow what a classical shot, great composition and lighting. The life for the child is too hard we just see the shot and didn't know how they live in there family and home. Really a hard life. Thanks for sharing a nice and great shot.
Latif

snuggleaphagus (4140) 2005-06-13 23:01

What a very sad story your photo tells us. To waht depths of desperation must one reach to exploit children in such a manner. What future will this angelic little creature know? will seh also become an adult, will she be the adult as another child begs, such imense saddness.
The look of the adult holding the boy's hand brings some compassion to the photo some concern for this little one.
A day when all children will smile will be the day that the world will truly know haapiness.
This photo brings so many questions to mind but it brings to me part of a song from long ago that somewhere it questioned why are children born to parents who will only use them, why are there parents that forever will remain childless...

Jackbq (48) 2005-06-14 1:17

Congratulations on a fantastic photo Rabani, it is just unfortunate that it conveys such a sad story, I just hope the little one is well fed from the proceeds that fill the cup.
regards

Jack

kinginexile (2440) 2005-06-14 4:57

Hi, Rabani

I am not sure your advice in your last paragraph is really a rule in itself, more like the way you proceeded yourself that day.
Here I think , that haphazard technique failed you, and you made the on-lookers as important as the kid itself, for a sake of a social contrast that is more trivial, than dramatic, in our big cities now.
Also, it did not help you from getting noticed from one of the woman behind, which in return leads us to see or think their stance and interest to the scene, is as a response to your own, dare I say, not so discreet and casual, presence.
Such a multi-faceted shot can work, but here, i think a much lower and closer angle ("empathic angle", i'd call this) to the child would have been needed to give a dramatic point of focus to the very reason behind the shot.

Social comments pix are extremely hard to bring on because they are usually loaded with more than a simple blink, time for a shot, at poverty or desolation.

Much must be impressed from the shot rather than from the note, and simply having the elements of the image in the view-finder, hardly qualifies as photo-journalism, or even photography.

Speaking like this because I think you are certainly one of the members who has and put much work and experience at the moment you choose to frame and click the shutter, to admirable effect, I must say.

nwoehnl (120) 2005-06-14 13:22

A good journalistic effort on this one, Bani. A sad story well portrayed, and indeed an evocative contrast captured between the begging child and the better-off folks who are just returning from their shopping. As usual, your notes are among the best writing to be found on TE.

PJE (19591) 2005-06-23 0:39

I have to say that this is so very moving. This photo captures her sad eyes too. What a disgrace to the World. How can we change this NOW? Laws? And how terrible for the rest of the world to ignore it.

oochappan (22036) 2005-08-26 4:19

I'm glad that you put this scene here so 'like it is' on to screen, the very thruth, a moment of shame for the rich world, how children are used to survive, scenes you see in the third world all over, pity the rich world still doean't know how to react on these situations, an easy ban or prohibition showed already so many times that it won't work that way, making this situations even worse, creating chances would.
A very good shot to show this still existing problem to the world, how the 2 children are in contrast to each other, makes it even more touching. We never should become apathic towards this, even when we can see this a lot in the third world.
Well seen and a top-shot !

wisat (426) 2006-04-23 19:43

Good picture with helpful information. The presence of a female guardian indicate that the poor child must be a part of organized human trafficking activity. Thanks for sharing.