The story in the photo

[Tom dinning]

86f4597017c8a300e907a32de3c90241 by Tom Dinning, on Flickr​

All of a sudden we have a crisis here in Australia.
This is one of the photos that is at the centre of the detonation.
The ripples spread far and wide and carry with them blame, indignity and outrage.
The photo is the thing here.
We have known that such things take place in out juvenile detention centres for some time, years even.
Thos who work there close a blind eye. Those who are responsible remain untouched. Those who set the culture continue to do so.

The boy behind the mask is the opening paragraph to a story that will, at the moment, not go away. Politicians duck and weave, indigenous australians are in 'I told you so' mode, the general public bicker among themselves, casting their opinions in social media as they might dispense platitudes and attitudes to their pet dog.

Will anything change?
I hope so.
The photo is the instigator of change, a trigger to remind us that we don't always get it right, we don't always have the best interest of others as a priority, that culture can be dangerous.

The photo reminds us of other places, other times, when we were less informed and possibly less empathetic.

Dealing with juveniles in detention requires specialist services led by understanding and skillful people.
Our current juvenile detention institutions are run by politicians and poorly trained staff.

Detention is seen as revenge more than rehabilitation. Force meets force. Force installs in the perpetrator that this is the only way. Force instils in the recipient that this is the way to deal with problems.

The expectation is that this juvenile will always be a repeat offender and his life is laid out for him: Jail.

The contents of this photo have shocked a nation. Lets hope they don't even need to see another one.

 

[Asher Kelman]

86f4597017c8a300e907a32de3c90241 by Tom Dinning, on Flickr​

All of a sudden we have a crisis here in Australia.
This is one of the photos that is at the centre of the detonation.
The ripples spread far and wide and carry with them blame, indignity and outrage.
The photo is the thing here.
We have known that such things take place in out juvenile detention centres for some time, years even.
Thos who work there close a blind eye. Those who are responsible remain untouched. Those who set the culture continue to do so.

The boy behind the mask is the opening paragraph to a story that will, at the moment, not go away. Politicians duck and weave, indigenous australians are in 'I told you so' mode, the general public bicker among themselves, casting their opinions in social media as they might dispense platitudes and attitudes to their pet dog.

Will anything change?
I hope so.
The photo is the instigator of change, a trigger to remind us that we don't always get it right, we don't always have the best interest of others as a priority, that culture can be dangerous.

The photo reminds us of other places, other times, when we were less informed and possibly less empathetic.

Dealing with juveniles in detention requires specialist services led by understanding and skillful people.
Our current juvenile detention institutions are run by politicians and poorly trained staff.

Detention is seen as revenge more than rehabilitation. Force meets force. Force installs in the perpetrator that this is the only way. Force instils in the recipient that this is the way to deal with problems.

The expectation is that this juvenile will always be a repeat offender and his life is laid out for him: Jail.

The contents of this photo have shocked a nation. Lets hope they don't even need to see another one.

I am too dumbfounded to add anything, as yet.

Asher

 

[Tom dinning]

I am too dumbfounded to add anything, as yet.

Asher

There are two ways to go, Asher.
One is to try to understand what is happening.
The other is to understand the impact a photograph has in making change.
If you try to grapple with both you are sure to fail.

I am of the mind that humans stil don't understand their own human-ness and such things will always persist.

On the other hand, I understand the power and effect words and pictures have on humans.

Little surprises me any more. I am neither shocked or surprised at this latest expose.

For my own sanity I can remove myself from the atrocity and focus on the image and what I gleen from it. I listen to my inner voice and know that the photo is the good thing here. Without it we would lack knowledge of such things.

The more we know the more we can do.

 

[Asher Kelman]

86f4597017c8a300e907a32de3c90241 by Tom Dinning, on Flickr​

Tom,

My current reaction to the photo, (pushing aside the facts of the case), is that it's not real!

I would identify it as an allegorical work that the photographer dreamed up as a political commentary; a comment, perhaps on our treatment of youth, degrading their lives in so many ways. The hood would be a reference to the irreverence for humanity from Abu Graib maltreatment of prisoners.

This is my first aliquot of addressing your startling post!

I will return.

Asher

 

[Jerome Marot]

Photos have been known to instigate change at various times in history. In this case, however, what you presented as a photo is a screen grab from video, maybe that is also a sign of changing times.

As to the outrage, I have trouble perceiving the full extend of it. Australia is remote to where I live and the culture appears to be surprisingly different. Could you please give us a bit more details?

 

[Asher Kelman]

Jerome,

I must admit to being shamefully ignorant of malfeasances going on in other societies. Even in my own rather closed orthodox Jewish society, I had no clue that wife-beating or cruelty could ever occur in a jewish god-fearing home. It just could nt even be imagined. So imagine the series of shocks I had as I started to read widely. It never occurred to me, for example that any Jewish girls could be prostitutes or Jewish men become gangsters. So I was flabbergasted to learn some 40 years ago, of the discovery of girls from Tel Aviv being smuggled over the border to UN troops in the Sinai! I was stunned and ashamed to find out that Bugsy Segal, the mobster in Los Angeles was of a Jewish background.

So it's not surprising that "Australia" brings images of a great cricket team, Soldiers lost in Gallipoli, cuddly Kaolas and the magic of the world greatest wildlife reef refuge. Who told us that aboriginals were not happy with their boomerangs and long musical pipes!

But we should not be taken aback! Except that our animal origins are obfuscated by our claim of being above them! Males wild animals often kill a mate's previous young offspring as a routine of dominance and power. When we see such equivalent cruelty in humans, it's shocking but not really surprising as we are built pretty well on the same master blueprint.

Interspecies variations would amount to a different version of a modern airplane. Sure, the avionics and hight vision are updated and the missiles are directed for some different specialized combat role, but essentially it's the same machine!

Whenever folk are segregated, they can be abused. Just look at the Indians and Bangladeshi workers, stripped of their passports, kept pretty well as slaves in work camps in the countries with great cultures that should know better.

We are just social animals packs with a tremendous native ability to cruelty and deceit in spite of our real and superficial attempts to be above animal instinctive drives. We need to be on constant alert for cruelty to folk we segregate away.

Asher

 

[Jerome Marot]

So it's not surprising that "Australia" brings images of a great cricket team, Soldiers lost in Gallipoli, cuddly Kaolas and the magic of the world greatest wildlife reef refuge. Who told us that aboriginals were not happy with their boomerangs and long musical pipes!

A quick search after an older post by Tom found articles like this one: http://rightnow.org.au/opinion-3/life-in-the-long-grass/, so it is clear to me that Australia is not only populated with Koalas, particularly in the northern territories.

As to the juvenile detention center outrage, it was also easy to find a bit more details: http://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/27/asia/australia-juvenile-detention-center-abuse/index.html.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Thanks, Jerome for the links!

Occasionally, like this we get to see the true nature of the existence of "levels" and "strata" in our communities where some are so privileged and others, often, but not always, more hidden from us are treated as worthless vermin.

That is why photographers who use the camera to probe below the superficial decorations of society can help us realize what we are part of!

Asher