My Dua Sen

"It is also a recognition of their worth – as human beings who have 'earned' our respect through their own efforts no matter how physically and mentally misshapen and uncoordinated they might be."
~TV Smith~

Victor’s Triumph

Here's my totally presumptuous, uneducated and non-professional dua sen ;D

Satu: Most photos are memento mori. These photos participate in the disabled person's vulnerability and mortality. Just by virtue of being photographed, the subjects are touched with pathos. Ugly or misshapen or grotesque, they move us because they have been dignified by the attention of the photographer.

Dua: Photographed images of suffering don't necessarily strengthen conscience and ability to be compassionate. I don’t think they can create a moral position, though they certainly can goad or reinforce one. Any photograph has multiple meanings. It is the mere surface, a veneer, if you like. The ultimate wisdom of the photograph would be to compel us to think, or rather feel, intuit, what is beyond it.

Last but not least, these days, cameras are like predatory weapons. Users often 'shoot' at anything and everything as opposed to 'taking pictures'. There is a certain aggression about it. They are as automated as possible, ready to spring at all sorts of subjects, animate or inanimate. Just look at how addicted 5xmom and Huai Bin are with their 'weapons' :P