THEY DID NOTHING WHEN THE LIGHT HIT THEM

Wasting time some Mondays ago I came upon a lot of photography articles. I didn't give a shit then, I still don't. But it reminded me of this article I had read someplace. This is about a photographer who used to take pictures of famine and flood struck people. He did it for money, for fame and for the thing called "job satisfaction". Makes one wonder if it's the sight of half-alive half-dead people or is it the fact that misery grows on one side of the earth when the other end sits on their asses and complains how the meat is not tender enough that gives him satisfaction. But that's not the story. It goes something like this. So this guy, call him Dick, goes around clicking all this misery and he has won a lot of prestigious awards for his 'work' towards 'awareness' of all that ugliness. And so, once he goes to this place somewhere in Somalia which is struck by a massive famine and here he starts clicking. On his way from one village to another, he sees a girl about 10 years of age trying to ward off the vulture (or some bird of prey) from biting into her. And she is all skin and bones. No clothes, no food. Only hunger, dirt and fear. Dick knows he's hit gold so he starts clicking right away. And then he moves on.

Now, Dicks back in his country, think its England, (owing to their funny way of laughing in the face of everybody's misery including their own.) where he gets his pictures on an exhibition and he is sure like every other time all those rich, uptight people with their noses up in the air would come and watch in awe his pictures and give him some award for his 'awareness' spreading activity.

All is roses till they get to the picture of the kid. Now, if you were to consider the light, the position and all that shit that photographers take into consideration, the picture was next to perfection. But, the people weren't thinking of that, they were thinking of the picture that was taken. They were all wondering if he let the vulture kill the kid. He said no, he had taken her to a nearby village. "That's it?" they asked, "Did you make sure she got something to eat?" Did you make sure she got into safe hands and not in the midst of flesh-eating humans?" (I mean sure you can say 'hell no, I cant even think of it', but come on, it was a famine that struck, if you have nothing to eat, wouldn't a little flesh jutting proudly out of a skinny body get you salivating?) And Mr. Dick was now in a muddle. Forget awards and recognition for his ground-breaking portrayal of cruel death, he got condemned. He lost all his work, all his money and the friends he had made when times were better. They ignored him, despised him, anybody who knew of what he had done absolutely made no effort in hiding their hatred towards him. I mean all this time he had done all kinds of photographs-dead, dying, hunger-ridden, a dozen people groping on a piece of bread, but who had known that he would hit the ceiling with this? Maybe that's what they meant by not knowing the limit till you walk right into it. Finally Dick, who was somewhere around 35, died of drug overdose in his apartment to be found 2 days later.

No one knew if Dick had killed himself or if it was unknowingly and no one cared. They thought he deserved more pain than that was inflicted on him. But then look at this way. What if the dying girl had gotten into good hands? What if her parents were in that village or some relatives or some good people who would adopt her? If that had happened, she would be 12 years now, probably getting education, no longer hungry and had found someone to love her, grateful to that white man who led her to this joy. And what if it did happen that way? What did Dick get for that? Forget that, what about the condemners? Were they better off than this guy who had at least put himself through the trouble of saving her from the vultures. Who's better? Who's worst? Who cares?


P.S. Hey mate jay, it's ok. Maybe takes time. But at least you know you loved her enough.