This was captured in the winelands district of Simonduim in the Cape (South Africa). Such families as this are the backbone of the industry. They live in little shacks/cottages. Live mostly below the breadline. Alcoholism, gang issues and teenage pregnancy are part of what defines their lives. This young woman has had 2 children already. All live with the older generation in the same cottage. Her partner bares the scars of gang life (see his right eyebrow). But what a delight to overcome my own fears and perceptions, cross the railway tracks (literally) and go into their space and capture a little of their lives. I am returning in a week's time with prints for them...undoubtedly they don't even own photos of themselves.
No doubt this young mother dropped out of school a long time ago. She has no means of employment, no state income, no marital safety net.
A recent documentary explained why young girls like this fall pregnant a few times over before their 20th birthdays...in a world of such extreme poverty and hopelessness, the ability to create life, is empowering. Girls keep having babies as an affirmation of themselves.
Life.
THANK YOU! I am so grateful to be up here on this top ten page. I went back this week with prints for this family. This time I was asked inside the cottage...This is Madelein. She is 17 and her baby is 3 months old. She spends her days childminding her own baby and her mother's baby "Popsie" who is 18 months old. They all live together in this one-roomed tin shack. Will post some out takes of them on my portfolio page.
(Some were suspicious about the "flashy" belt and her jewelery...cheap imitations and fake silver).
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Place: 9 out of 116 Avg (all users): 6.7022 Avg (commenters): 8.0000 Avg (participants): 6.5862 Avg (non-participants): 6.7425 Views since voting: 4368 Views during voting: 670 Votes: 225 Comments: 66 Favorites: 31 (view)
Puts MY life into perspective. Thanks so much for sharing this story. And I am glad that you overcame your fears to reach out to them. I'm sure they loved their photos.
Okay...may seem a bit melodramatic, but I have to confess that I've found all the affirming comments overwhelming...you guys have made me a wee bit emotional and you might have caught me with a tear in my eye had you found me behind my monitor in the last few days.
Thank you to everyone from the very Pap of my being.
This does what few photos do on DPC. It moves me. They are portrayed here as full of joy in these circumstances. You've captured both essences very well. Congratulations on a very nice photo first of all, and a top 10 photo secondly!
Love it.. there story is unbelivabel and the best thing about the photo is that you didn't even have to tell it.. every thing you said is told in the photograph! Just unbelivable, i love it!
This was one of my very favorites. It's beautiful work, and I so appreciate reading about their lives. I never thought about the empowerment thing of having children -- also, I guess it feels great to nurture and protect something they love too!
This is powerful! Congratulations on an amazing photo and experience -and the reward of top 10 honors as well!!
This is an AWESOME photo - I SO ADMIRE your boldness in 'asking' to photograph them. It's a part of me I'm working on and photos such as this REALLY INSPIRE me to keep working on the 'asking' side of my photography.
TRULY WONDERFUL! And I Thank You for also sharing the story.
this photo couldn't be better. absolutely, spot on, amazing!!! it looks like you tore it out of my favorite magazine "Colors"... ever heard of it? if not, definitely check it out, it's totally the style of this photo.
I am so glad to se ethis score as well as it did. I had hoped to see it higher but hey - a 6.7 is nothing to sneeze at. Great image that fit the challenge brilliantly. Well done!!
Great shot, well lit, love the story you can put in here. I would think harsh but it looks like he has a diamond belt. Lol...Love the softness on the skin and your composition. Nice work.
It makes me wonder where they are, and who they are, and, in context to the challenge, what's the harsh environment? They look healthy, have a place to live..
Pretty good shot, would have liked to see a little bit more of the actual environment though, like a wider shot showing also their house and not just them standing in the doorway but like I said, a pretty good shot.
This is a fave in the challenge for me. Like another entry I saw, it speaks the proverbial "volumes". While you certainly didn't use the new rules - you didn't have to. Everything is so dramatic in this image, from the writing on the door facing to the curtains halfway hanging to the scar on dad's eyebrow, to the beautiful smiling mother with the unbuttoned pants holding her precious infant. This is definitely a harsh environment at it's finest (worst) and deserves a much better score than I'm sure it will get. Thank you for submitting such a powerful picture.
I am hesitant to comment but I told myself I would comment on every photo in this challenge. It's hard for me to see the 'harshness' - that belt looks kinda fancy as well as the girl is wearing jewelery. I don't understand the title although I can take a good guess at the innuendo. As for the photo, the quality is very good, the lighting, focus and color are nice too. Maybe if the shot were wider? Anyway, I'm not voting on this challenge - I rarely vote in challenges I participate in. If I were voting, I'd give it a 6.
I've only gone through a fifth of the entries so far. But so far this is vastly superior to anything else I have seen. This entry fits the challenge so nicely as well as having technicals that underscore the theme. In addition, there is a powerful emotional impact here. Good luck in this challenge!
Fantastic photo! You've done a great job of illustrating the harsh environment, and I really like the way you have processed this! One of my favorites so far!
This photo is of National Geographic quality. I nearly started crying when I opened it. The expressions are incredibly haunting, yet hopeful at the same time. The light is beautiful, the composition is astounding and the word "ghost" in the graffiti makes this work of art even more poignant. This may be my favorite photo of all time on this site.
Definitley one of the stronger images int he challenge. Dark, gritty and real. I hope this does well against some of the seriously photoshopped images. This deserves to be a high scorer. I will help - bumping up two to a 9. Good luck!
In looking at this picture I don't see the "Harsh Enviroment" Unless you are talking about the family being young. Unfortunately the window in the back is distracting as with the writing on the door jam. Also her pants being totally undone draws away from the pic. So all in all you have a great snap shot, but would like to have seen more of the surroundings for the feel. JMHO
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