Wazzup Pilipinas!
Do we really know what "discrimination" means. As someone said, the word gets thrown around so often that sometimes we're not even sure if we still understand what it means.
"Two beautiful people expressing love in a place where even the toughest condition prevails, wild animals still roam free and people still live a simple and beautiful life"
The statement above makes more sense to prominently emerge as the overall thought after seeing the supposedly Ethiopian prenup photos of celebrity couple Billy Crawford and Coleen Garcia, however many criticized them of "cultural misappropriation."
"....creatively speaking, a prenup shoot doesn’t have to look prenup-y, which in this case is refreshing. On the whole, it’s editorial, artsy and doesn’t seem at all disrespectful of the culture."
Were those included in the photos actually got offended? Was there too much of a disparity between the subject and the kids that the photos seem exploitive ?What's the significance of having the children there aside from "aesthetic texture?"
Until then, it seems unfair to jump to the gun and accuse them of being offensive or exploitive to the natives. Today, being offended has become so hip that people are now claiming offense on behalf of other people.
Will there be an actual Ethiopian to come forward and say they felt abused?
If I was in the shoes (or sandals) of the natives, I will feel proud to be photographed along with these personalities, or foreigners regardless if I know them or not. When I go travel out to other places, I love taking photos or videos with the people. Being involved or engaged with the locals is a lot more rewarding than just seeing the sights or tasting the delicacies.
"The couple has released a statement that it's not for their prenup shoot. It was apparently for an Ethiopian tourism campaign. Did the photos do justice to showcase the culture and its people?"
Bashers were enraged because they thought it was a prenup shoot as advertised by some. But I think there may be some PR work already going on here for "damage control." If it was truly not a prenup then being a journalism or travel shoot makes the search for context no longer necessary.
"If those were white children with red hair, it wouldn't be a big of a deal now, would it? If those photos were taken in Tibet with monks in the background, it's not a problem? Is it due to their dark skin colour that you suddenly feel the need to swoop in and protect them just because you had a 'hunch' that they were being attacked? What does that make you?""
"Some people need to invest their feelings some place else. You know, where it really counts. Instead of being so ignorantly butthurt behind a keyboard."
Life is just too good to be caged by other people's opinion. Our artistic preference or creative taste may not be as acceptably pleasing to others. We cannot move forward positively if we keep minding the point of views of others. Everyone has a say to everything but keep in mind that we all frew up differently thus our opinions are as varied and uniquely defined based on our experiences.
"Photography is a form of art, or have we all forgotten that? What you see is not always what you get. Don't be daft."
Ross is known as the Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas - An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional by profession and a Social Media Evangelist by heart.
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