Wednesday, 11th July 2007
Ati Child
by Mykl Mabalay
Ati Tribe, Boracay Island, Philippines.
Equipment: Canon 350D
Mykl Mabalay
Website: Flickr photos
Ati Child by Mykl Mabalay was photo of the day on Wednesday, 11th July 2007. It is tagged Children, People, Philippines. You can leave a comment below.
22 Comments
kml
Very expressive and full of emotion. You did a beautiful job with this!
Anurag
Great shot, almost a cliche.
Mansi
stunning!
beautiful child, so well captured…
great color and composition
Eli Shams
What a moving portrait ! His eyes talk to me about miserable conditions. The monotone strenghen the image.
Maha Hawashin
Hope this photo make many people think how blessed they are!!
Joanne Stewart
How sad…I’d like to get this baby in a nice warm bubble bath. Makes me feel very fortunate to be living in the USA. Your portrait captures the sadness in his face. God bless you.
Bobbi Bryant
captures the poor children of the world and touches the deepest part of my heart… i love the above comment about a nice warm bubble bath for the child, god bless the children…
Pieter -sAner- van der Horst
POV & DOF are excellent. Exposure is perfect too. This is a very touching photograph.
Eileen
I think it is a very sweet picture. But I don’t see a poor face as much as a shy face. We in America think we know what everyone else needs. The natives of Boracay Island have lived their lives without our bubble baths for ever. We need to understand that our western world is not what everyone needs. Let us not forget my people the native americans. BUT THEN ITS ONLY MY OPINION
Eileen
My eight year old grandson says he looks like he didn’t want his picture taken. But he says he likes the picture very much.
Sarah
I agree with Eileen on this. This child does not look starved or sad. He looks curious and shy. You know that most of the world is living fine without Western technology and our conveniences. Americans are fairly wealthy and quite lazy compared to the rest of the world. I am an American, a white American, and I think America thinks too highly of itself. The whole world is not in need of us and what we have. He has chubby cheeks… he’s doing alright. I bet he ran off to play with some neighbors after this picture was taken. He’s being shy to the [probably] foreign photographer.
Pauline Jones
When I was a kid living in a London slum I hated being clean. I didn’t have adult concerns and always assumed that the next meal would be on the table. This picture gives me mixed feelings because my parents were able to work their way out of difficult conditions; I had a good education and never had to worry about healthcare. I agree that we westerners can be a little too smug when it comes to our way of life but I still wonder if this child has the basics.
Paul Indigo
Very touching image. The eyes tell a story.
Mykl Mabalay
thank you very much for all your comments.
modernization and encroachments to their settlement are the main reasons why this tribe is being threatened now. IMHO, if we want to help them we should just let them be– free to till their own land, fish from the seas, and to raise their children the way their ancestors did for hundreds of years before us.
Anurag
I believe that we should not “just let them be” Rather we should make available to them – Modern education so that they are more aware of the world around them and the possibilities that exist. After that it is their choice, how they choose to live. Changes in life are inevetible and necessary.
Jon
lovely light and well composed.
gorgeous eyes!
su
Wonderful, thought provoking shot.
mike
Shows he is a bit shy. I like the picture.
nars dionson
The forty-some Ati families still residing in Boracay are squeezed into a few square meters of land. So there is no soil for them to till and few are inclined to do so for the Ati are not farmers but hunters and gatherers. For the Ati there is no returning to an edenic past. They have to learn new skills that will help them to cope with a way of life different from that of their grandparents. This is a nice photo but I would rather see the child bathed by the sun.
Deborah Flowers
Excellent portrait! I wish him all the best!
Su
What a debate on social comments this provoked, hes a lovely looking boy and its an excellent potrait.
Renee
lovely shot!