Very moving

Amazing

On April, 19, 2006 1:00 PM , Ahmad Hasweh
from Jordan said:

a very touching expression, a state of shock perhaps!!!

On April, 19, 2006 2:04 PM , Dana
from Canada said:

I am not sure what the significance of these pictures is, actually. Since when is autism a "sight" which needs to be photographed and put on display? What do we achieve by doing so in terms of raising awareness about autism and permitting people to understand the nature of it? Shouldn't more effort be put into displacing autism as a "sight" and allowing people to realize that autism is extremely prevalent and cannot be recognized by simply looking at the child/individual? Are these pictures part of a bigger campaign to raise national awareness about autism? If so, what kind of literature does this campaign disseminate or does it depend solely on “sight[s]” of children who may (or may not be) diagnosed with autism?

Dana, Sabri is a photographer, he works in the feild of photography, and displays some of his work here on his blog, what these pictures mean or dont mean isnt really the issue, it the picture that counts, its a photo blog, he is now working on a documentary about autism and he is placing some of the shots he takes here.

On April, 19, 2006 2:38 PM , Dana
from Canada said:

Nadir,
I understand what Sabri does and respect it. Photographs have meaning and power and I worry that focusing on one child in a picture and adding a caption of "autism" will make it appear as if autism can manifest itself in a singular way, and in one individual; this is problematic and dangerous, especially since autism can manifest itself in different ways and in many different individuals (regardless of race, class, and sex). Photographs appear in contexts too (in this case, as you pointed out Nadir, their context is the documentary that Sabri is working on); however, displacing such a photograph from its larger context leads to an abstraction of knowledge about autism and the reification of common misperceptions about it. You cannot understand (or recognize, in fact) autism simply by looking at a picture – a fact that I am sure Sabri is aware of.

but dana, there is no one child, there are many pictures he placed of kids with this disorder, and since you say it cant be recognized by looks, wouldnt it make sence to state the child was autistic?

On April, 19, 2006 3:02 PM , Dana
from Canada said:

Nadir,
The picture above is a picture of one child as I am sure you are aware. It is precisely because we cannot recognize autism simply by looking at someone that we must not label such pictures. By labeling this picture, we make the act of identifying autism by mere and superficial observation an acceptable one. Any person with the simplest knowledge of autism will tell you that identifications of such nature are impossible and can be dangerous.

Dana,
your point makes sense, though this is a blog, a personal online diary, most of the visitors here are on daily basis, he told us he is going to start a documentary shooting, he placed pictures as it progressed and so on, so most visitors by default know what he is doing, im not defending him, but i dont see anything wrong with it, its not merely as dangerous as you make it sound to be, search for autistic or autism in google for images, you will see a replica of this sort of image all over.

On April, 19, 2006 3:29 PM , HoUzeR
from Jordan said:

It would be much better if the post included some caption about the photo... to be honest with you; all i can see is a picture of a sick child! So i hope to read about the child or where the photo was taken... stuff like that... thanks

On April, 19, 2006 3:35 PM , Dana
from Canada said:

Nadir,
My apologies for not following the project on a daily basis. While it is true that you can probably find similar pictures by running a google search, this does not dispel what I see as the problematics of this particular post. A photographer, especially a socially-committed one like Sabri, has a responsibility to caution against the dangers of certain visual representations and contextual abstractions. I am sure that Sabri aims to stimulate deep understanding and social awareness of autism at the national and international levels. Doing this, however, requires that we attempt to educate ourselves about autism by recognizing that it can not recognized by looking at a picture and dubbing it as "very moving" and “amazing”.

On April, 19, 2006 9:43 PM , Neverland
from Jordan said:

Even though the picture doesn't really reflect "autism", but I loved it, because it has this unique spirit, I dunno...

I don't like seeing sick kids. It breaks my heart.

amazing photograph Sabri. one of your best. facinating really.