Ethic
42 creative works found
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GENERATION NEXT
by Ushna Sardarwhere we have been leaving to our generation next / I often wonder what future generations will make of our efforts!
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I thought this would be a nice card to illustrate the old cliche, “A woman’s work is never done,” and to honor women everywhere who work hard at home, on the job, within the family circle, in the community, in the church, in public service. This energetic little Eastern bluebird female exemplifies an honorable work ethic in her diligence at nest-building. (Note the bedraggled look of poor little Mama’s feathers; temperatures were in the 90s and she was really feeling the heat and humidity! Just about the same concept as a housewife sweating over the stove or the ironing board!)
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Sunday night reflection
by PilgrimIf God doesn’t exist then I really struggle to find a reason why I should be moral unless I am likely to get caught. I suspect Stalin a…
If God doesn’t exist then I really struggle to find a reason why I should be moral unless I am likely to get caught. I suspect Stalin and Hitler felt much the same.
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Street photography, art or an invasion of privacy?
by Redtempa_“You are reminded that under UK law, there are no …
“You are reminded that under UK law, there are no restrictions on taking photographs in a public place or on photography of individuals, whether they are adults or minors. There is no right to privacy in a public place, although photographers are of course subject to the usual libel laws in the same way as any other citizen and should observe them. Equipment or film may not be confiscated, or images deleted by any person or officer unless a warrant for such action is issued. Any attempt without a warrant is considered assault under UK law“. This is a passage of text carried by a well known photojournalist to protect himself from confrontation with the public when taking street photography I am a big fan of street photography and photojournalism, I love to look at pictures that capture a moment in time of the reality that is around us everyday. I see the artistic quality in good street photography, I also see the historic significance of people attempting to capture life in this way. I believe it is a very important way of recording life as it happens, especially when it is unscripted and shot in a natural environment. That way there is no bias and no ulterior motive behind the image, just the image and how we personally choose to understand it. I however am constantly struggling with the ethics of photojournalism and street photography because there are 2 points of view. I feel sorry for those ‘personalities’ that the media latches on to and decides are ‘newsworthy’ and there to be ’in the public interest’ because this ultimately gives the press (in their eyes) the right to make sometimes disgusting and wholly unethical invasions into their private lives. I find this, at times, to be unsettling, especially after what happened to Princess Diana who ultimately lost her life to the intrusion of it by the press. When you now look at the treatment of celebrities such as Britney Spears or Amy Winehouse you worry that it is not long before a similar tragedy happens to them. I understand this is the price celebrities pay and they have a responsibility to be good role models however members of the press are more and more taking advantage of this. Yes these ‘photographers’ have their own name, ‘The Paparazzi’ and should, in theory be grouped separately just as trashy tabloids are grouped separately from the broadsheets. Unfortunately more and more it is the case that they are not in the eyes of the general public. The problem is the reputation and image of street photographers and photojournalists is being lumped together with ‘The Paparazzi’ by many of the general public and are being viewed with distain. The average Joe on the street is becoming more aware and suspicious of street photographers, often feeling a certain hostility towards SLR holding ‘snappers’. I added the text above to reassure those of us about our rights to photograph in public places and societies need to have these people. However we must also be aware of our responsibilities and the boundaries we must observe to avoid upsetting an already wary general public / Some of the photo’s I have included have been taken on the street, some without the subject being aware of the shot being taken. I’d be interested in what you all think about the ethical side of publishing these shots and whether they could be considered art, journalistic or simply an invasion of privacy? It has bothered me as to whether I should show them on Redbubble or not, what do you think? Alternatively please feel free to comment or debate about what I have said I’d love to hear your side of this argument. Ben
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I'm confused (but what else is new?)
by Deri DorityIn checking out the image on the favorites page I noticed an apple with a zipper down the side. I had seen this image in Photoshop Creat…
In checking out the image on the favorites page I noticed an apple with a zipper down the side. I had seen this image in Photoshop Creative as one of the tutorials so I thought to myself that maybe the author of the tutorial had placed the image on RB. / However, in looking at the portfolio of the individual that posted the image, there is another image taken directly from a Photoshop Creative tutorial. The tutorials in Photoshop Creative were done by 2 different authors. Hmmmm. / So I put 2 and 2 together and ending up with 5:). Obviously the person that posted the images is not the original creator of the images. OK, here is my question. Photoshop Creative put the images out there for people to use for learning techniques in the tutorials. Is it legal to take a tutorial, recreate the image and then sell it as your own work?
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Paying for Art
by Natalie ManuelThe recent decision by Radiohead to release their new album with a user decided cost ( “http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/a…
The recent decision by Radiohead to release their new album with a user decided cost ( http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/10/03/bmcolumn103.xml ) has made me wonder about art and its perceived value in general. The media has gone crazy on this story, musing on whether this will effect the future of the music industry in general. Will most people pay for this album and reward the artist, or will they happily consume it as a freebie? Would you pay for something you didn’t have to? Is it just plain stupidity to pay for something you can get for free or is it an ethical question? I think this issue ties in quite nicely with the issue of “security” that comes up on RB occasionally – the idea that consumers can simply right click and save a copy of your art. Early indications from the Radiohead camp say that “most” people are paying for the album. Most! That means that given the choice of freebie or payment, many are choosing to pay for art. I wonder how much this means for us, as artists. Does being fair and allowing the responsibility to rest on the consumer instead of controlling it by restrictions and watermarks, actually make people act ethically!? Why are most people paying? Is Radiohead’s attitude on this point the reason people are choosing to pay? By standing their ground ethically, does this roll over onto the consumer? A kind of contagious morality? I think this makes people think about the value of what they are paying for and receiving. There are always going to be some people who want everything for free and will right click and save your work or download the album for free. But were they ever going to be your buyer?
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RADIOGRAPHY
by Ushna SardarIt’s like a furnace! / I burnt my eyes / burnt my body / and soul too / I burnt all / burnt my values / burnt past on the stake / ...
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the new premier cleans up
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The ethics of photojournalism...
by Melinda KerrHi fellow bubblers. A couple of days ago I uploaded my entry into the real photo comp. It fostered some fairly blunt debate with another …
Hi fellow bubblers. A couple of days ago I uploaded my entry into the real photo comp. It fostered some fairly blunt debate with another member of red bubble about what was ethical and what wasn’t in photojournalism. At first i felt uncomfortable about the debate but on reflection I find it really interesting. I see that Jessica Tremp has also faced the same dillemma. I admire Jessica’s work enormously and I encourage you to view her latest piece here Whilst you’re there check out her other shots, she’s excellent. If you want to see the one that started the debate :-) Check out mine here I’m interested in the discussion and welcome all points of view. It’s great we have the bubble to share our thoughts in…:0)
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WHAAAAAT!!!!!!!! I JUST SOLD 18 CARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
by Melinda KerrOK SO I CAN ONLY TYPE IN CAPS FOR THIS ‘COS THIS IS INSANE!!!!! / I JUST SOLD 18 CARDS IN ONE HIT!!!! / WHO WAS IT?? / WAS IT YOU / I’LL …
OK SO I CAN ONLY TYPE IN CAPS FOR THIS ‘COS THIS IS INSANE!!!!! / I JUST SOLD 18 CARDS IN ONE HIT!!!! / WHO WAS IT?? / WAS IT YOU / I’LL NAME MY FIRST BORN AFTER YOU. / OR AT LEAST MY DOG. / SHE’LL ANSWER TO ANYTHING. / THAT’S AROUND $16 TO HEAL AFRICA. / THEY SURVIVE ON LESS THAN $1 A DAY OVER THERE. / SO THIS’LL HELP. / THIS’LL REALLY HELP. / THANKYOU, THANKYOU, THANKYOU. / HOLD ON… / MUM?? / WAS IT YOU??
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Is it a cure, or a curse? Is it even real?
by Daniel Rarela“Is it true?! They can cure us?” _“No, Rogue… they can’t cure you. Do you know why? There’s nothing to cure. Nothing’s wrong with…
“Is it true?! They can cure us?” “No, Rogue… they can’t cure you. Do you know why? There’s nothing to cure. Nothing’s wrong with you… or any of us, for that matter.” X3: The Last Stand might very well have been the worst movie out of the X Men movie trilogy, but some of the underlying social/ ethical issues throughout the movie really did hit home for me. The biggest of these was the issue concerning whether or not Rogue ought to have taken the “mutant cure” and become a normal human being. First, let me provide a bit of background information for those of you who might not be familiar with what I’m talking about – X Men started out as a very popular comic book series that eventually made its way onto the big screen, featuring people who were born with special traits/ abilities/ powers that made them different from others. These people were called mutants, and were feared by the rest of the human race because of what made them different. Eventually, however, that fear began to melt away, and was instead replaced with (misguided?) compassion – in X3: The Last Stand, a medical company develops a serum that, when taken by injection, removes the mutant gene from the body, and turns the mutant into an ordinary human being, without any of the different traits/ abilities/ powers they had been born with. This, of course, sparks a fierce controversy in the mutant population – for some mutants, their special abilities (ranging from telepathy, fast reflexes, the ability to manipulate the elements, etc.) are something to be celebrated, and any attempt to remove that or take it away is a huge insult to everything they are. For other mutants, this cure is viewed as an opportunity to finally be free of oppression, exclusion, and prejudice – an opportunity to finally be accepted by the mainstream society that has given them the cold shoulder for so long. This is especially true for a mutant named Rogue, whose special ability is that she can inflict intense, even life-threatening, pain on somebody just by touching them. Some might think it to be amazing, but for Rogue, it is a curse, as she feels condemned to live for the rest of her life without ever coming into contact with another human being. Her powers prevent her from being able to touch her boyfriend, Bobby, and prevent her from being able to even kiss him without putting his life in danger. As a result, she is eager to get a dose of the mutant cure, in spite of the fact that a lot of her peers and friends advise her not to, or at least think it over instead of just rushing into it. The question that I would like to ask the RedBubble community, particularly the gay and the Christian community on RedBubble, is: what if there was a way to cure homosexuality? What if it was possible for a gay person to change his or her sexuality and become a heterosexual? How many of us in the gay community would take that cure? I don’t care if you believe your sexuality cannot be changed. Assume, for a minute, that what I’m asking you right now is actually common knowledge and you really did have a choice. The reason I am asking you this question, is because this is a path that I have recently wondered if I am capable of walking on. As I said in a previous journal entry- , yes, I am gay… I also became a Christian four years ago, and have been trying to live my life in tune with the message of Jesus Christ ever since. I can’t say I left behind a life of promiscuity, since I’ve only had sex twice in my entire life… but the fact remains that my sexual desires are still directed towards other men, and even going beyond sex, I find it virtually impossible to even imagine myself married to and in love with a woman, with biological children of my own. Now this probably isn’t a problem at all for the gay man who doesn’t believe in God, and recklessly acts on his sexual desires every chance he gets, but for someone like me… it’s tough to call yourself a true follower of Christ when you find yourself getting really uncomfortable with verses in the Bible like Romans 1:27 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. Promiscuity no longer feels like freedom… instead, I only feel like a slave to my own body, which is humiliating, considering that I’d like to be seen as an intelligent human being that’s above bowing to every single request made by the area between my legs. In terms of love… I’d like to imagine that there’s a man out there who sees past whatever he witnesses with his own two eyes. I’d like to imagine that there’s a man out there who sees kindness and graciousness before he even notices muscles or good looks… a man who knows and loves Christ more than he could ever love me, and at the same time, be willing to make a commitment so that my lips would be the only lips he would ever kiss for as long as we both would live. And then I wonder… am I wishing for an impossibility, hoping that there’s a good Christian man out there that I could love with all my heart? Is it even more outrageous to hope that God would look down from Heaven at the two of us and smile? Is it like holding an apple in your outstretched hand, and hoping that it’ll fly up into the sky, instead of falling down to the ground when you let it go? I ask all this because I just get so tired of being at war with myself. The worst fight is over, mind you – I feel that it’s important to let you all know that I’m NOT struggling with this because I’ve got this intense fear that God is going to send me to hell. If it’s true that whosoever believes in the divinity of Christ Jesus will have everlasting life, then there’s no need for me to be afraid of the future. But if it’s also true that real Christianity transcends mere religion, and is instead a relationship with God, then I see my homosexuality as a barrier preventing my relationship with God from becoming more wonderful than it is as of today. Think of it this way – imagine a man who has the perfect wife… a wife who loves him wholly, unconditionally… and constantly forgives him in spite of the fact that he’s constantly cheating on her. The man sees how much his wife loves him and feels an intense wave of guilt over the fact that he feels so unworthy of her love because of his unfaithfulness to her. The husband knows that his wife’s love for him is so pure that she would never divorce him, but instead of seeing that as an incentive to keep cheating, the man is now inspired to stop, in hopes of becoming at least a little more worthy of the love that his wife gives so freely. That’s kind of the way it feels between me and God. I know, of course, that salvation is given by grace, and that even if I was as good of a person as Mother Teresa, it could never match the kind of love that God has for me. That being said, I also feel it important to mention that I’m not looking to destroy my sexuality in order to earn God’s love. There’s no point in trying to earn something that was already given to me freely. The reason why I’m trying to do this is because it tortures me to know that God is so madly in love with somebody like me, and I feel as if He deserves so much better than me. So even if I could never be “good enough” to God, I feel as if I should at least try to be good enough, so I can feel a little less guilt over the fact that I’ve received an incredible blessing that I know I don’t deserve. Think about the last time you deeply hurt somebody you love. Then think about how good it felt to be forgiven…to have that person hug you, look into your eyes and say, “It’s okay. I forgive you. I love you and will always love you.” I think about God’s forgiveness, and I as much as I am filled with relief and happiness… there’s another voice that points a finger at me and says, “You’re such a fucking asshole! If you really understood the weight of what you had done, you would’ve jumped into a tub of acid, because a person as bad as you doesn’t deserve to even look into the face of the person you wronged.” I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s felt this… more often than not, even though we wish to be forgiven… a lot of us sometimes wish that the person we hurt would stop loving us altogether, because we know that punishment is what we actually deserve, as opposed to having that person look us in the eye and say “I love you still, and I don’t love you any less than I did yesterday, or the day before.” To have God say that makes you all the more aware of how unworthy you really are… it makes you feel bad about yourself… it makes you want to hold God at arms length and wail “Look, God – just don’t_… STOP IT, okay?! I know You love me, and I love You too…but You’re too good for me, and I love You too much to let you settle for less than what You actually deserve… so let me just jump off this bridge, so You’ll have room in Your life to actually find someone who’s _GOOD ENOUGH for You, because that person isn’t me, as much as I wish it was!” So, going back to homosexuality… what if there really was a way to become straight? What if there really was a way to be at least a_little_ bit less ashamed of yourself when you look into God’s face for the first time? Why would anyone turn down the opportunity to make life a little easier, Christian or not? And if the opportunity is truly there, what am I supposed to do? Watch lesbian porn for weeks on end until I finally get turned on by it? Ask a random girl out on a date and pretend that I’m sincere enough times, hoping that by the end of the date I really will be sincere about it? It’s obviously not enough to argue the point that one should turn away from homosexuality because the Bible commands you to… if that was all it took, then nobody on this planet would be gay because nearly everybody on this earth has heard a pastor say those words at least once! So having a valid point in an argument clearly doesn’t do the job… So to my fellow brothers/ sisters in Christ, I ask you, how exactly does one deal with and fix homosexuality after letting God into their lives? I’ve prayed about it more than once, believe me, and my prayers have not been halfhearted either… yet I woke up the next morning and was still gay, so if “former” homosexuals are the real deal, it’d be nice to know what it is they did that I am obviously forgetting to do. I’m not even leading a homosexual “lifestyle” – been celibate for four years, don’t go to gay clubs/ bars/ events, don’t go around looking for hookups with other guys – check, check… checking everything off my list and I still know quite clearly in my heart that I’m gay. So what exactly am I missing? And to my gay friends/ family… if there really was a way to turn yourself around, if there truly exists out there a way for you to no longer be a homosexual, would you take the opportunity? And if you wouldn’t, why not? I sincerely hope you’ll try to give me more than the “I was born this way/ love yourself for who you are” cliché. There are serial killers and pedophiles out there that could probably make that same argument (keep in mind that I’m not equating my fellow gay brothers/ sisters with serial killers and pedophiles – I’m just saying that clichés heard a thousand times will not justify you in the eyes of the rest of the world when worse people than you will say the same things). Just because you’re born a certain way doesn’t mean you need to stay that way. If a person is born blind, would it be wrong for him to accept a doctor’s offer to give him a new set of eyes? Would the rest of his blind friends tell him there’s no need, and that he’s fine the way he is? And is that just because none of them have ever known what it’s like to have sight, therefore they just don’t know any better? Again, I say all this because I want to at least try. For all anyone knows, I might fall flat on my face and fail. I might never get married or fall in love for the rest of my life. I might even fall deeply in love with a man and stay married to him for the rest of my life. At this point, I hardly know what to pray for anymore. I might show up in Heaven one day just to have the angels say, “We’re letting you in, but just make sure you know that you were fooling yourself when you thought being in a loving monogamous relationship with another man would erase what the Bible said about homosexuality. Doesn’t matter if you sincerely loved him and weren’t having one-night stands all over the place.” I might hang my head in shame (I’m going to be humbled in the presence of God regardless), but I want to at least be able to say, “Yes, I failed at being able to live completely by Your word, God… but I can tell You, if nothing else, that at least it wasn’t for the lack of trying.”
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This female rufous hummingbird is collecting material to build her little nest. I saw how hard she worked, and how focussed she was on her goal during the several hours I was privileged to witness this scene. I wanted to portray her tiny size within the cattails. I made this image with a Nikon D2Xs and 200-400 mm lens with a 1.7 TC on a monopod between Campbell River and Courtenay on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
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Apocalypse- divine intervention
by Mishaal Sardar“what are you thinking?” / God said, “believe, hope, love, divine law and divine intervention!” / *I asked, ’’ how about an environmen…
It’s a Narration’s Part II Please also check part Narration’s Part-1 if you missed out one! thanks.
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I just don't get it.....
by John De Bord Photography IPAI just don’t get it…I really don’t. How is it that deviantArt can justify charging a massive markup to non-print accout subscribers…
I just don’t get it…I really don’t. How is it that deviantArt can justify charging a massive markup to non-print accout subscribers for when they want to purchase their very own art, when they can go directly to the source, ezprints.com and order it much cheaper. AM I missing something here? I invite you all to read my latest blog entry in my journal on deviantART which calls this into question, with some interesting answers for the administration there. The Raping of Artist’s on DA—-UPDATED! In it I mention Redbubble…I think we will be getting quite a lotta familiar faces soon over here….something just doesn’t sound nor smell right with all this! And honestly, it makes me quite sad….. / —-John
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This image was taken late afternoon in the loft of our barn (badly in need of a new roof). At first I was captivated by the points of light in the semi-dark loft and tried capturing them. Then I thought to myself how much more interesting they would be if you could see the light in its path from the roof to the spot of light on the floor so I began to move the loose hay on the floor from one side of the barn to the other. (I am terribly allergic to hay.) The dust worked its magic and created a spectacular light show. Several hours later my lungs are still agonizing over the assault! / Shown here with off white mat in mocha flat frame. /
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Do the big cats follow a code of ethics?
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The Ethics of Photoshop.
by Samantha Van StralendorffThoughts of the day. Before using PS, there are some things to consider. Your aim. Since I’ve been using it since I was 10, there was…
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P E P P E R M I N T – Fresh, green, eco fashion. New magazine coming soon – showcasing the best of ethical and eco fashion from Australia, New Zealand and around the world. Vintage, organic, fair trade, sustainable, recycled; GREEN IS GOOD! The image on the tee represents the caribou and the tiger, both nearing extinction because of our disregard for our little planet and all that lives in it. Sustainable style does not mean we are doomed to wear hemp sacks and string sandals… there is a new breed of clothing designers making fashions that are gentle on the earth, and its’ inhabitants. Buy the tee and help support this ground-breaking magazine get off the ground!!! www.peppermintmag.com
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Toilet Paper Bible - A Letter to my Grandson
by QueeniAs a child my mother, your great grandmother, would wrinkle up her beak saying “She’d read toilet paper if there was writing on it”. ‘She…
As a child my mother, your great grandmother, would wrinkle up her beak saying “She’d read toilet paper if there was writing on it”. ‘She’ not being the cat’s mother but moi, the first born child. No don’t upset yourself lad, she was as evil a witch as was ever born. Reading was a refuge, my fantasy world. It was true I would read anything. Old magazines rescued from the neighbors’ rubbish piles caused contention, turning the pages too loudly upset the mother. After my lifetime of providing free stand up comedy, the court jester in tea- rooms, workplaces and team building workshops, I realised that there was something to say. In fact there was so much that needed to be said, the only choice for me was to learn how to share it all. Does anyone care that it was only a couple of years ago that I realised Freddie Mercury was gay? Probably not. It is the maintenance of perpetual naiveté that allows a person to see the real world, and still be horrified at what passes for ‘ok’. No no no it’s not about gay people, its about children in detention camps, aboriginal people sleeping in tents, homeless people, abused children, the poor, the destitute, the sad, the crazy. It’s about nuclear power stations, uranium mining, global warming, saving the River Murray. Get it??? What did you learn at that school kid? Well at least you can read. How do people survive in a world where their only skills are humour and naiveté? They learn the hard way. I learned that writing real letters to real newspapers, real politicians and a variety of other real organisations did not help matters. In fact they just did not understand me at all, I ended up on the scrap heap, labeled a serial pest. It took a while but slowly and with much encouragement from a good friend, no not a bloody boyfriend, they were all useless. Anyway on with the story lad, it’s nearly rest time. I discovered that to get people to listen, you have to give them something back. Humans’ do not want to see the truth about their actions, unless you can point the finger at a BAD GUY. See what I mean?? I had no choice but to write the novel of the century, with thrilling characters, such depth. A person bought what they thought was just a book and discovered that they themselves could do something about all the bad things in the world today. It gave them courage; it let them feel compassion, it made them empathetic. Yes I know Mark Latham tried to do the same thing, but he told the truth. You have to learn to weave the truth into something beautiful, fictional and do-able. So that was how you ended up sitting on your fat lazy arse doing bugger all. Help me outta this chair.
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World Press Photo/Photojournalist Ethics
by David MackI’ve been playing devil’s advocate in some of my responses lately regarding a debate that has arisen about photojournalism and poverty. N…
I’ve been playing devil’s advocate in some of my responses lately regarding a debate that has arisen about photojournalism and poverty. Now, I won’t go on blabbing about all that again but I thought this article I wrote for a Uni paper a few weeks back might help to frame this idea I’m proposing about viewers inferring things from photographs and unclear agendas behind a photo. Enjoy. WHEN A PICTURE TELLS A THOUSAND LIES / David Mack checks out the World Press Photo of the Year exhibition at the State Library. The majority of photos on display at this year’s World Press Photo of the Year exhibition are black and white or in muted, sepia tones. They feature lost-looking refugees, machine-guns pointing in the air, masses of soldiers and riot police, thick black smoke and tired, old faces in various states of despair. It has a been a gloomy 12 months according to the world’s leading photographers – I think I only counted one or two smiles in all the exhibited photos. Interestingly, some of the photographs are taken from high, overhead angles as if the photographers are almost assuming the place of a god they don’t believe could possibly exist in this war-torn, miserable world of ours. * ‘Voyeurs or Victims?’ proclaims the tag line in the advertisements for the exhibition that currently emblazon bus shelters around the city. Adorning the ads is Spencer Platt’s winning photograph taken in Beirut last year in the aftermath of the Israel-Lebanon conflict. In it, five young Lebanese people ride in an open-top red sports car through the smoldering rubble of Dahiye, a Beirut neighbourhood. Four of the five sport designer sunglasses. All the four women wear jewelry, tight tops (two of them tied with spaghetti-straps) and have their long hair tied back – one of them is even blonde. What’s more, the car’s male driver seems to model a perfectly coiffed, designer haircut and facial hair. One of the women holds a handkerchief to her nose and mouth, presumably blocking an unpleasant smell, while another seems to be snapping a photo on her mobile phone. The blonde in the front seat turns in such a way that she looks almost posed – exuding an existentialist glamour that alludes to Calvin Klein ads. They are in complete contrast to the devastation around them. Every other person in the scene is on foot and looking much less fashionable. A woman in the background even wears a hijab and shields her face. You wouldn’t be wrong for assuming these inconsiderate yuppies must be indulging in a form of ‘disaster tourism’: traveling through a poor and ravaged section of town before returning to their hillside mansions to enjoy a nice Chianti and remark how sad life must be for those victims of war. German newspaper Der Spiegel ran an article on February 28 by Ulrike Putz, claiming a “mix-up” in the representation of the car’s occupants. In the article, one of the women, Bissan Maroun, comes forward to tell the “real story” behind the photograph. She claims her and her friends have experienced hostility as a result of the vilifying way the photograph portrays them. “At first everyone said: That must be those rich, chic Lebanese visiting the poor neighborhood like a tourist attraction,” Bissan told Der Spiegel. “But that’s completely untrue.” Bissan explains that she and her brother Jad and sister Tamara we’re residents of the neighbourhood themselves, who had fled, like most Lebanese, to safer districts to wait out the conflict. Along with their friends, Noor Nasser and Lillane Nacouzi, they were riding in a borrowed, orange Mini Cooper with the roof down on a particularly hot August 15, the day of the ceasefire, inspecting the damage to their apartment block when Platt snapped their photograph. “Look at our faces,” she said. “They clearly show how horrified we were, how shocked. We were not cheerful.” As for their stylish garb: “This is Lebanon,” she said. “We always dress this way.” The Der Spiegel article accused the photo of “catering to a Lebanese cliché,” claiming Platt had “struck a nerve.” It goes on to discuss the reality that is the economic disparity between the residents of Beirut. “There really were rich people,” Putz writes, “wearing expensive sunglasses – mostly Christian or Sunni – who sat…in popular bars above the city watching the unloved Shiite neighborhoods go up in smoke.” “The trouble is that Bissan and her companions don’t belong to that group.” Sydney Morning Herald blogger John Reid hit on the issue in a March 15 entry, (http://blogs.smh.com.au/photographers/archives/2007/03/its_all_in_your_mind.html) believing “the controversy stems from the fact that the car’s occupants don’t look like victims of war… We (Westerners – consumers of mainstream media) don’t normally associate victim status with people who are dressed in modern fashion, are clean and wealthy looking, and are driving sporty little convertibles.” Reid quotes Platt as saying “We in the West have a lot of stereotypes of what a victim should look like, especially in the Middle East. They should be defeated; they should look powerless, hopeless …” Reid is right. As a record of a split second in a moment of time, photos by their very nature are limited in what they can explain about an issue. By assuming that a photograph could intentionally mislead us, we must question what it is we expect from our photos. Platt’s photograph is a testament to the power images yield over us – how they can suggest so much but say so very little.
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Avoidance
by tuffcookieThe door opens, / I walk in and you walk out. / The door closes on you. I sigh and shrug / My day begins.. / I run, i smile, i wave, I run…
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Manifesto For Pain Management and Self Healing
by Charissa May BorroffMy definition of pain is tortured nerves that deprive health and happiness e.g backache, depression, stress, tinnitus. There is physical…
These implements of healing; ANIMAL RESCUE, CESSATION, IDENTIFY HARMFUL NEGATIVITY, RELAXATION, RESPECT FOR ONESELF, RESPECT FOR ALL LIVING THINGS, PUSHING ONESELF, TRUSTING ONESELF, / CONNECT WITH NATURE, CONNECT WITH POSITIVITY, POSITIVE SYMBOLIC MEANING, POSITIVE SYMBOLIC ACTIONS, CONSERVE ENERGY, RECORDING YOUR PROGRESS, when activated by meditation, creative work (all of the visual arts, drama, dance, writings, good food, and music) and also by incorperating these tools into everyday life. There is no going back once this journey is started. I need to shine the torch back through the tunnel of pain that I’ve been through.There is a way out. Based on my experience of emotions and health being linked. I have written this manifesto for many reasons. My Manifesto has elements of alternative practices for healing which I see as most benefical and relevent to my healing experience. A simple bit of information can solve a big problem sometimes. Just one little moment of connecting and thinking. As simple as that. It may be placebo but hey it works! In the last month I’ve attended some public talks and have taken notes from The Dalai Lama’s visit to Nottingham Arena. I’ve met life coach Fay Hartwell, sound therapist Nicola Kelshall, Mark Graham a druid, a Elaine Mein a hereditory witch, Robert Hawk and Anam Gemma both shamans. I can see that the essential part of healing is firstly about the power of thought and allowing the body to deeply relax to experience soothing sensations. Dealing effectively with negativity and embracing positivity as much as possible will strengthen the connection with the self,. Body and mind. When you suffer terribly it can make you desperatly want to leave the painful body behind to go somewhere peaceful. All of the genuine alternative healing practicioners work with the intention to get you to feel happy and safe in your own skin again. The experience of a painful illness is a traumatic and powerful thing. The mind is a powerful thing and needs powerful positive experiences to communicate the intention to heal. Nothing to do with hippy dippy mumbo jumbo but a practical intentional management of the mind and body. Things like sensation, visualization, compassion and intention are essential componants of a positive healing medicine. This manifesto works to supply some key suggestions of going about guiding the power of thought to concentrate on healing. This is the foundation of which I base my therapeutic creative artwork sessions on. But also to record what I have found useful to myself and act as a reminder. I hope you feel like printing this out and keeping as a guide so that you can find empowerment and help in this too. Please contact me if you have any questions.
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Cause of the moth, the mantis and the tree
by dreadfulbrideI often find evidence that creation was not done in a hap-hazard way, as a matter of fact, I find we are often looking at from the wrong…
I often find evidence that creation was not done in a hap-hazard way, as a matter of fact, I find we are often looking at from the wrong point of view. We delve so deeply into understanding the physical (science). This is one example of what I’ve found. When I look at a tree, the way.. maybe… we are suppose to - / I see a tree…heh, heh. / On the other hand, I see leaves, I see bark, branches and twigs. This is the tree – or is it? In the leaves there is something that looks like a leaf, something that looks like a twig, something that looks like bark. These things are in fact, bugs. Mantis, walking stick, and moth. The worm has been spoiling fruit for a very long time. We live in a world where parasites abound. We are relatively quite new to “existence”. Individually we are as motes of dust passing over a candle flame on the time scale. The tree has shown me, not all in my head or my heart is my own. In fact, my only enemy, like a beetle, would rot out my core and cause me to fall.
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GAP - In Trade
by anaisnaisUnmanned, unaudited and undiscovered / Children young as eleven and twelve / Work their tiny nimble fingers / Stitching richly embellished g…
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