Photography as Skilful Means for Those ‘Born into Brothels’
Winner of the Best Documentary Feature (for the 77th Academy Awards), “Born into Brothels”, despite its seemingly depressing tite, is really a rather uplifting film, of how a bunch of poor Indian children, who were otherwise subject to a future of poverty and even prostituition, were presented cameras to snap of the world they lived in. The outstanding photographs were then exhibited, attracting the attention of the media. Suddenly, new possibilities open up. One of them was even invited to an international photography festival participated by kids in Amsterdam. Beyond the confines of dark and damp alleyways, the world became much bigger and brighter. The importance of getting an education was realised too, though some of the kids opted out of schooling later, some via family pressure.
The film documents a case-study of art at its best. It is the art of photography, that is unadulterated, that is not arty-farty, that touches even the adults and the arty-farty! It is a story of how art can help to save the world, to relieve its suffering. Point and shoot. Create a portrait of reality with the objective lens. Show the world the world as you see it. A picture tells a thousand words. It can’t be simpler than that, but it can hardly be more effective too, other than by painting a fuller picture with another thousand words, or by making moving pictures (film) – such as “Born into Brothels”!
Related Link:
Kids with Cameras
http://www.kids-with-cameras.org/bornintobrothels