I picked up the contact sheets yesterday from Kodak Grahamstown.
32 children returned their cameras and many of the photos are remarkable. Through this exhibit, and through the photographs, the children will have given anyone who looks at this exhibit an uncensored look at their lives. There are images from school, images from Eluxolweni Shelter, images of family and friends, from around town, and images in the township.
There are also 5 or 6 images of kids doing drugs. Crystal clear images of faces, pipes and what is believed to be Mandrax. I suppose it shouldn't surprise me. I asked the children to take pictures of anything in their lives that tells a story of who they are. The student photographers who took these photos of their drug use--and abuse--were perhaps the most honest and most faithful to the task at hand: of taking photos of their day to day lives.
While I appreciate the honesty conveyed in these photos, should they be shown? I don't have any qualms with showing the images when I return home to New York as the abusers are half a world away. In Grahamstown though, they're right down the street. I am going to talk to Kodak about seeing if faces can be blurred. The exhibit promised to be an enterprising, gritty look at the lives of children from Amasango. Without these photographs, the exhibit won't be entirely truthful. Drugs, and issues surrounding drug usage, are a part of these students' lives. It shouldn't dominate the exhibit, but in my opinion, it shouldn't be excluded.
I asked them to tell a truthful story about their lives through the lens of a camera. I suppose I got exactly what I asked for.
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2 comments:
Jason: (Ginnie B. here) While I haven't seen the photos, I would think a bit about blurring the faces of those doing drugs. If you are having an exhibit there before departing, then yes, I would understand wanting to protect their identify. But for displays in the US, I think it would be more powerful if we could see identifiable faces especially if there are other photos in the collection of the kids doing other activities. I think the fact that they took such honest photos of their lives indicates their level of trust in you.
Ginnie,
Thanks for your comment!
I should have made a point more clear in the blog. I will not blur the faces when I return home to the USA. I agree with you and do think there's something powerful of seeing the face of a kid who's into hard drugs. However, with the exhibit at Rhodes going up in a little under two weeks, I feel it's my duty to protect their identity here. At home, it won't be a problem because the abuser is so far away, but here I feel as though I must. Thanks for your comment!
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