Posted by Portrait| Los Angeles Skid Row (Los Angeles, United States) on 21 August 2007 in Lifestyle & Culture and Portfolio.
Migrants on skid row tell their story, and vision of America, and their misplaced fortune...and the trek to poverty.
" I came here 6 months ago. I thought America was different. Yes, I my family was poor in Salvador, but here I sleep in the streets...I'm trash in America"
And sadly, many new Migrant-Americans find their way to skid row. Some pay $1000s to come to this promised land.
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I was watching "The Killing Fields" last night and had similar thoughts about the Cambodian family who "escaped" to the US and found themselves living in a slum that represented a stark reduction in the quality of life they lived, with fewer economic resources, in Cambodia.
I also found it interesting to observe the contrast between then and now in terms of photography. The next to nothing coverage of the American destruction of Southeast Asia looked almost gratuitous by comparison with the completely non-existent coverage of the destruction we're visiting upon Iraq and Afghanistan. Our corporate media have completed eliminated any images that don't perpetuate our comforting illusions.
19 Sep 2007 10:54am
@Twelvebit: QUESTION: Twelvebit, what is our/ America's comforting illusion?
---- :: When I was a little kid I recall the images of Southeast Asia. At night before dinner my father would watch the news..I recall the some of the imagery from 72 towards the end of the war. My family gave me a camera at 4years old... And I began to document life.
That is a true story, but- what I don't understand is why American media can't show the images.
There were some great news figures in those days.. Mr. Peter Jennings was my favorite. He seemed to be so honest ... He is gone now. There are few real stewards of culture, of news and history. Today, news is softer and deals closer to issues of pop culture then issues of the popular culture.
Peace.
I was referring to the fact that Americans don't want to know how the "sausage" is made. They don't really want to know what is done in their name. They prefer pretty pictures and pictures that make them feel good about themselves. They want to believe that we are only a force for good in the world, that we don't kill innocent people, that we're really bringing "peace and freedom" to whatever country we're bombing, etc.
19 Sep 2007 10:48pm
@Twelvebit: That's real funny!
Americans are the kings and queens of hotdogs and processed junk meat. Even I don't want to see what's included in that stuff...:)
Great, that is the point this work... To show where the poverty line is drawn.
As I have said somewhere on this site this project is about the "...Invisible Man.."
In school we had to read : Ralph Ellison's classic..."The Invisible Man."
There are some aspect to American Culture that are blind to others. Poverty cast the blanket over the face of the restless poor.
Pop culture seems to embrace dressing urban artist in shiny bling and jewels. Then exporting that image via the media. Globally, many people may assume that all African-Americans drive fancy cars, with big 22inch rims that spin in the sun...
Globally, many people may consider most poor" Americans-of-Color" to be lazy. But, the truth is many Americans have been broken by the system of injustice. Or, mislabled by the media...that misinformation breeds self-race hate. All races have it, it is more of an issue in a image saturated culture.
I saw a kids study where little girls of were given dolls to play with...dolls with very different features then the girls.
After a while, the little girls thought the dolls looked just like them...
Imagine that!
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Skid Row | Portrait
Skid Row | Portrait
