One of the most intriguing and symbolic photos I have seen this year is found in the book Migrations by Sebastio Salgado. This photo shows dozens of babies on the roof of a FEBEM center. And in the middle of the page we one baby sitting on a high chair. Where did all of these babies come from? Why are they there? These are children who have been abandoned by their families. 35% of these children were found abandoned on the city streets of Sao Paulo, while the rest were delivered up by their parents to the center FEBEM.
There are two very interesting insights I find about this photo. First, we need to realize that there are children out there who are in need. There are children out there who have been abandoned. Maybe they still live at home and have not been abandoned physically by their parents, but they have still been abandoned by their parents. Poor relationships between a child and their parents lead to complex problems such ad substance abuse, crime, and emotional challenges. Where in this photo these children have been physically abandoned, we see this issue each day of children who have been emotionally abandoned by their parents. The problem is still the same. In both cases neither child gets to know their parents.
The second insight I found interesting was of the baby in the high chair. With dozens of babies on the ground, we have only one in a chair, away from the chaos. I feel this represents those who are well off in the world. I feel this most likely represents you and me. We sit on our "high chair" of comfort in the world but away from it at the same time. We can see from our position those who are struggling on the ground and from our "high chair" we cant do anything about it, or we choose not to. Let us choose to help those who are crawling on the ground by helping those who have been abondend. Being placed on the "high chair" gives us that opportunity to help them.
Salgado, Sebastião, and Lélia Wanick. Salgado. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. New York: Aperture, 2000. 314-315 Print.
Salgado, Sebastião, and Lélia Wanick. Salgado. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. (Pamphlet) New York: Aperture, 2000. 23-24 Print.
Michael this was a very interesting post. I posted about the same picture and even though I have some of the same insights as you, it amazes me how detailed you are. I noticed all the babies, but I didn't pick up anything significant about the baby in the high chair. I think it is really neat how you compared that baby to us. I totally think you are right in your assumptions that we are more privileged than those babies, and that we need to find some way to help. It breaks my heart every week to see pictures of little children suffering and not being able to do anything to help themselves.
ReplyDeleteIt's sad when parents abandon their children. Children are dependent and need to be physically, emotionally, and mentally cared for. It makes me question why so many adults are apathetic and irresponsible. Why are so many would-be-parents so full of ice that they can chuck their kid in an alley without a second thought? Why do so many would-be-parents pale at the thought of caring for their own flesh and blood? But many of us can do something about it. Like you said, those of us lucky enough to have a "high chair" can help those who have been abandoned.
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