Comments on: Photo Friday: Children of Rwanda, Part III

By: Julia

Julia — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 05:17:34 +0000

What a cool article. You’re amazing. This article alone makes me want to follow your blog.

By: All Is Optional

All Is Optional — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 18:38:09 +0000

As someone who spends a lot of time conflicted about the state of “postcolonial” nations/peoples, your trip to Rwanda and the comments that have followed have been a rather interesting experience. I enjoyed your response to the NU’s comment from part II. I appreciate your response quite a bit because I think you’re doing something that’s extremely important in telling stories: you’re positioning or locating yourself and talking about your experience without suggesting it as a substitute or a definitive experience. My hesitation in all this arose with your comments about the children seeming satisfied in their lives. I wasn’t there so I can’t say whether they were or not nor do I doubt your ability to gauge satisfaction. I guess the questions i would ask there is why do they seem satisfied, why don’t American kids embody that imaginative spirit that you saw in these Rwandan children, would these Rwandan children adopt the American attitude if their lifestyles changed to match American lifestyles? I think you’re tackling an issue of epic proportions by even engaging in this form of representation and that’s extremely admirable. You might’ve read this piece on Matador already but I think it’s a good one for all of us to keep in mind as we create/consume these types of narratives: http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/05/21/why-we-still-need-to-write-about-african-poverty/

On a somewhat related note, I completely empathize with the shyness of photographing people. My academic work only adds to this but there are grave questions of comfort and relationship (both for the photographer and the person photographed) that occur in the flash of a second in taking a photograph. So many questions of appropriation arise. Whether or not one is actually thinking of that, I do think some of the discomfort stems from that.

I look forward to following your work.

By: Home Sweet Sarah

Home Sweet Sarah — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:49:59 +0000

I see there have been some less than friendly comments here (whether they were intended to be unfriendly or not, I do not know), but I wanted to add my two cents.

Kristin, what you do on this-here site is invaluable. Most of us who read your blog, I imagine, are sitting on our couch, or in a cubicle, or if we’re lucky, in a coffee shop somewhere. Most of us are only wishing we were where you are. When we read your site and see your pictures, we’re taken to another place, even if it’s just for 5 minutes. It’s your immaculate content, both in words and pictures, that keep us coming back.

And now that I’ve gone all soft, let me say this: Eff the haters!

By: Caitlin @ Roaming Tale

Caitlin @ Roaming Tale — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 17:00:11 +0000

@N.U. I’m glad you’re not ashamed. It looks like you have a beautiful country!

Travellers will take photos of what they see. Foregin photojournalists trying to do a photo portrait of the entire country may take a different approach. Rwandans themselves will have another perspective. All are valid. The only type of travel photography I dislike is the glossy, travel brochure kind where everything is always perfect but it’s all a complete fantasy.

By: N.U

N.U — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 15:13:07 +0000

Thank you Caitlin, and SVV for reminding us, being Rwandans, or Africans, that well, only we can do it, only we can tell the story, the whole story! We are not ashamed of these pictures or kids, we fully embrace that is part of our country, again we are just saying, please don’t summarize us, or at least acknowledge that you’re doing so!
We just hoped for some humility to consider where our comments were coming from!
In the meantime, keep well!

By: SVV

SVV — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 04:32:57 +0000

You took the words right out of my keyboard Caitlin. I agree with every single point you make. Since when has it become a traveler’s responsibility to FULLY document a country? That is what books are for and if these ostentatious comment[er]s really want to help change the perception of their country, they damn well could do better than writing comments in a photo essay.

Get out of your Land Rover and get your hands dirty if you feel the lament that strong. DO something about it. Near as I can tell, Western countries are on the vanguard of that effort. How about you?

Also? These pictures -regardless of the social stratification of the subjects- are truly remarkable. They humanize the world like only children can do.

By: Caitlin @ Roaming Tales

Caitlin @ Roaming Tales — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 03:41:31 +0000

@Grace I partly agree though I think I’m most struck by the similarity of children everywhere, rather than their differences.

By: Grace @ Sandier Pastures

Grace @ Sandier Pastures — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 03:33:29 +0000

I never thought a beautiful post of yours would become controversial or would attract ‘angry’ comments. This is a very beautiful post about the children of Rwanda – and says a lot about the difference against the children we see around us.

They’re living a simple life, yet happy. That, in my opinion everyone should be, children or not, in Rwanda or not.

By: Caitlin @ Roaming Tales

Caitlin @ Roaming Tales — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 22:29:50 +0000

Also, let’s be realistic here. The per capita income in Rwanda is $370 a year. Given that commenters here have referred to the existence of a middle and upper class in Rwanda, it’s fair to assume that there is income inequality and that many people/families earn less than this per capita average. So to suggest that Rwanda is not a poor country is, quite simply, denying reality. If a small fraction of the population is well off and the vast majority of people are not, then is it really showing “balance, depth and perspective” to show photographs of poor people and wealthy people in equal numbers? I think not!

I think the real problem here is that many better off Rwandans and Africans feel ashamed of the real poverty that does exist in their country and continent. Maybe they feel invisible. But poverty is nothing to be ashamed of and maybe that invisibility to the outside world is the price of their privilege.

It can affect a country and continent’s outlook to be portrayed in a negative light. But acknowledging the reality of poverty in Africa should not be considered shameful or negative. The real problem is how to encourage people to take pride and a realistic outlook, rather than to discourage visitors from taking photos of the village children that make up a huge swathe of the population. Why should the poor village children become invisible, just so their richer city-dwelling cousins can feel better about themselves?

By: Caitlin @ Roaming Tales

Caitlin @ Roaming Tales — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 21:01:56 +0000

SU I see diversity in this post: http://camelsandchocolate.com/2010/03/photo-friday-children-of-rwanda-part-i/
Many of the children in these pictures are wearing clean clothes and have their hair neatly done.

Also, this shows a taste of adult life:
http://camelsandchocolate.com/2010/03/someones-popular-in-rwanda/

But I refer back to my previous comment – not every post can be all posts. I think Kristin was saying that photos are representative of what she saw and that there was diversity within the photos (which I agree with), not that she is claiming these images as representative of the entire country.