March 2006
- 10
Born Into Brothels
Here’s the dilemma: Indian children are almost literally ‘born into brothels’, when their mothers are survival-prostitutes living in Calcutta. They are the end-result repercussion of a complex situation based on widespread and serious poverty, and their mothers relying on what is probably the only way they can find an income: A tribute to the resiliency of childhood and the restorative power of art, Born into Brothels is a portrait of several unforgettable children who live…
- 19
Punctum: Lake District Photography
I think Roland Barthes’ famous book Camera Lucida is a weak theoretical text, in relation to photography and photographic culture. I’ve read it twice although both times there were sections I could only skim, not because they were clever but difficult, but because they were irritating nonsense. There’s one memorable part, for example, where he expounds on being ‘wounded’, and on being ‘pricked’, as a response to a photograph with a surprisingly poignant or disturbing…