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Weapon of Mass Destruction?
Weapon of Mass Destruction?
Xilebo


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Apple (Basic Editing III)
Camera: Nikon D70
Location: Gypsies being evicted from my neighborhood
Date: May 17, 2005
Aperture: f.5.6
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/500
Galleries: Emotive, Political
Date Uploaded: May 17, 2005

 The woman and the little girl in this photo are my neighbors who live in tents, they are Gypsies. Recently they have been coming over to my house complaining that they are being evicted from their abode. They are a peaceful lot with meager means and live off scraps from shops and collect cans. I wanted an image depicting the plight of Iraqis living in Amman, specially women who roam the streets peddling cigarettes and other items but they were not willing to put up the scene that my "Nawar" accepted to do and have their picture taken. The Apple was a weapon that nearly destroyed Snow White and my interpretation was the search of Weapons of Mass Destruction that was never found in Iraq, maybe this Red Delicious Apple imported from the US is exactly that, the long lost WMD... I want to add that I do like America a lot and have many wonderful friends & relatives there, my intentions are solely an attempt to make people aware of the evils of war.

Statistics
Place: 150 out of 386
Avg (all users): 5.3291
Avg (commenters): 6.4615
Avg (participants): 5.2323
Avg (non-participants): 5.4224
Views since voting: 1471
Views during voting: 459
Votes: 316
Comments: 15
Favorites: 1 (view)

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AuthorThread
 01/18/2006 06:19:21 PM
Originally posted by eschelar:
............
Your comments show that the little girl is actually a native Iraqi, but her blonde hair suggests a Western background...........


Thanks for the nicely detailed comments and I do appreciate your thoughts on this.
About the Western background, this little girl belongs to a tribe of gypsies called Nawar in the arab world. They are a fantastic mix and are quite good looking. However, a blond child more often than not indicates poor nutrition and a lack of important vitamins and minerals in their diet.
01/17/2006 10:17:31 PM
I don't know if I agree with or understand your link to Snow White, but I will say that I like the picture for another reason with a slightly different twist.

What I can't tell is who is giving, but my guess is that the old woman is giving the apple to the girl.

Your comments show that the little girl is actually a native Iraqi, but her blonde hair suggests a Western background.

I see a tremendous look of distrust and discomfort in the girl's face. This speaks volumes about things like reading evil into good or harmless actions or objects.

On the non-political side, it could also be aptly applied to the situation of wisdom being passed down from aged ones to younger generations. No matter how wise we young 'uns are, we always have trouble swallowing the good advice from our elders. Now matter how simply or well they put it.

That is the side of the image that speaks more to me.

I didn't vote on this, and I can't honestly say now how I would have voted on it. Without a title, I would have come to my own direction for the meaning and significance, which I prefer, but the title pulls me into a political issue that I am not personally interested or involved in (being neither American, not currently living anywhere near either country).

  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
05/23/2005 05:59:34 PM
Wow, what an unfortunate little girl ..
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/22/2005 02:18:01 PM
Sorry, I don't care for your title. It seems a little too politically charged, and I'm not sure the scene depicted supports it. This shot used DOF well. There is a hot spot on the apple that is distracting. The background is cluttered and visually uninteresting. The facial expressions are not attractive - the figure in black doesn't have a friendly expression, and the little girl doesn't look like she really wants the apple. There is a distracting element in the lower left hand corner of the frame that I might have cropped out. With regard to composition, the apple is dead-on center which forces the head of the older person to be cut off. You might have tried to frame the shot using the rule of thirds. Now this is just me, but this would have been an awesome shot if you had framed just the hands of the two people exchanging the apple with the sky as a background. Same position of the older person's hand, with the little girl reaching up for it.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/21/2005 07:10:58 PM
This is what they mean when they said "A picture is worth 10,000 words". 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/21/2005 06:27:40 PM
This photo makes an incredibly powerful statement. Good job.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/19/2005 08:48:39 AM
I dont understand the title connection to the apple.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/19/2005 03:28:43 AM
hope you dont get voted down for the title, great photo!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/18/2005 08:48:16 PM
Great! I adore the little girl's expression and the title. Congrats!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/18/2005 05:59:58 PM
Emotional shot. The sun is bright but wow did you handle it well. Awesome shot. Photojournalistic! Winner.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/18/2005 01:50:21 PM
Wow. a political statement from an apple.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/18/2005 11:50:52 AM
moving
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/18/2005 11:27:00 AM
This is such a great photo that is really hurt by its political title.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/18/2005 09:24:12 AM
Love the look on the little girls face, excellent capture!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/18/2005 12:43:44 AM
I suppose if it were filled with a highly contagious strain of anthrax, but I would speculate that the apple, as implied by the nature of the title, is in fact safe.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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