childrens labour, a photo from Gandaki, West

Photographer's Note

left Kathmandu valley and took the bus towards Pokhara. A bit of rest before the 5-day hike. This is a during a walk up to Sarangkot. A good place to test your condition before staring the serious work! But you might also want to come here for wonderful mountain views (if there's a clear sky that is...) from the top, which is at 1592 metres above sea level.
You can walk to Sarangkot from Lakeside by scrambling up the hill (see Pokhara page for more details) or by taking a taxi to Bindabasini Mandir and walking the winding, uphill road in about two hours.

Almost at the top (grasping for air) we bumped into this little girl carrying this heavy pile of wood. She asked for money, but we learned from our tourguide later that giving money is not wise to do. When the parents notice that their kids get money out of sympathy, they will not send them to school....
sad sad sad....

Aegean, ChrisJ, Kenny10pin, scalerman, PLD_images, Georges, pulezan, Motrem heeft deze opmerking als nuttig gemarkeerd

Critiques | Translate

Aegean (2571) 2004-11-18 4:39

Yes...a great capture Femke...and here we can not say anything about techniques and things like that...Here what counts is the overal feeling and the human aproach thorugh photography...Very well done!

ChrisJ (171822) 2004-11-18 4:46

Hi Femke

I caught a taxi up to Sarankot & walked down. Those steps are very steep! Wish I'd paid the taxi to wait! A good portrait, with acceptable sharpness & nice graphic elements in the composition.

Kenny10pin (19301) 2004-11-18 6:16

great pic here, I like the eyes of this girl looking directly at you, the load seems to be very heavy, but they are very hard workers

pamela (619) 2004-11-18 7:39

Femke, a good shot. The girl keeps her smile, even working.

Pamela

scalerman (26900) 2004-11-18 13:14

even if it's a little soft, you can't really ask the kids to stop what they're doing for your picture. nice try, and the notes are good.

PLD_images (7149) 2004-11-19 7:00

Very sad indeed and your picture I feel, captures this feeling of sadeness. A special shot of a special kid.

Georges (11185) 2004-11-20 16:14

Un regard qui en dit long et qui malheureusement est vrai.
Beaucoup de tristesse et d'émotion sur cette image que lorsque je vois des enfants obliger de travailler dur pour vivre.
Merci de montrer ce type de scène qui nous fait redescendre sur terre pour nous rappeler que pas tout le monde n'est heureux. Et surtout ne jamais se plaindre de son sort.
Merci.

pulezan (841) 2004-11-24 14:06

During my second climbing to Sarangkot I bumped into two small girls carrying something in the same way as the girl in your picture. I remember clearly their words: "photo? picture?" I just walked away for the same reason - not giving the money (just, I was there on my own).
Dificoult light for photografy but the picture is still very good.

vedran

Motrem (2392) 2004-11-25 19:43

Excellent portrait which shows the disparity of the ways of life. The smile of the child is also printed by sadness, it is a charming image. I see the edge of the road which seems abrupt, I hope that she does not come in the bottom from the mountain.

Excellent portrait qui montre l'inégalité des les modes de vie. Le sourire de l'enfant est empreint aussi de tristesse, c'est une image attachante. Je vois le bord du chemin qui semble abrupte, j'espère qu'elle ne vient pas du bas de la montagne.

dsidwell (9783) 2004-12-10 8:26

Femke, this is so superb. The child's expression is very communicative, and you've also managed to capture her in her environment effectively.

faubry (35447) 2005-01-21 7:49

very nice picture, what strong labour! i like this expressiv face, she is tired and see you and talk: help me!!
thanks