19 de dezembro de 2007

Les Misérables

homeless leilana sitting against trash can on sidewalk. she had just been in a fight so her eyes are swollen. sleeps in the park, which she's done since coming to san francisco 8 years ago. she got here by hitching from east coast; doing "whatever" to make a buck along the way. she has a few raw sores on her face mostly hidden by her hair. i've seen her around for a while now, usually sitting huddled somewhere staring at nothing. i worried she might have some mental / emotional problems from how she acted, but talking to her, she seems fine. but she's clearly weary and has moments where the thoughts and memories going through her head seem to chill her thoroughly. she says she's trying to take a vacation from fucking herself up.
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Tom Stone é um fotógrafo nascido num comboio em marcha nos arredores da Cidade do México. Gosta de fotografar gente nas franjas da sociedade, gente no limite - ou para além - da sua própria dignidade. É ainda novo, mas enquadra-se muito na linha de Sebastião Salgado.
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"To my thinking, the original human trauma is our separation. We are too close not to need each other; and too far to trust each other. We rely on dubious senses and clever devices to interact; but we are alone in our thoughts. Lonely, insecure and uncertain; we pair, we group, we associate. We try to belong and we seek to exclude. We form bonds by geography, religion, economy and otherwise. But it is all precarious. We come together and we drive apart.
[...]
But is there really no connection there? Does such fate – whether choice or circumstance – speak nothing of us? Tell me we do more than advance in place; with so many left behind. Or promise me we can do better. Say we can reflect ourselves; us and them... That we can see the ways we overlap and distinguish the ways we grow apart. And pledge that we can learn; to fit all of our misshapes; to reward value beyond charity and beyond the marketplace; to be better to each other; to be better ourselves. And promise me it could be a better world. Or tell me we are at our best."
Tom Stone

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