These photos were published a couple of months ago, but I just ran into them today. A Norwegian photojournalist spent six weeks living in the slums of Nairobi, Caracas, and Jakarta. He took panoramic photographs of the homes that he saw there.
I found them extremely moving, in an unexpected way. This is not the usual set of poverty pity tragic pictures. That element is there – what do you say about the family in Jakarta living in a house you can’t stand up in? But what struck me was just how homey many of these slum dwellings are. No matter how small or desperate the structure was, people were doing their best to make it a home. The pictures feature decorations, family photos – efforts to make the spaces personal and welcoming.
It was a strong reminder of just how similar we humans are at our core. It was also a strong reminder that no matter how poor a person might be, you can never say they have nothing.
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by alanna_shaikh: New Blood and Milk Post: What Poor People Have http://bloodandmilk.org/?p=1441…
This reminds me of Material World http://bit.ly/4qCDlk – families worldwide, standing outside their homes with all their possessions piled out front. It was a very visual demonstration of the relative material wealth of each family, and at about the 10th photo, made me pine for a happiness index to go with it. Hopefully showing that things do not equal happiness.
“It was a strong reminder of just how similar we humans are at our core.” An author who had a powerful influence on my thinking was a novelist named Frederick Beuchner (sp?) He spoke, in his novels, of the “secret of the hearts desire”. Essentially, this is a desire for wholeness.
I’m reminded in your comment, Alanna, that when we go toward that core and embrace it in others, we find our common ground and our wholeness.