Macros & Close-ups 9: Caged
“Caged”, Kiunga, Western Province, Papua New Guinea
I found this poor possum tightly caged and being sold as a pet at 80 Kina (around US$40) near a busy street in Kiunga. I was saddened to see such a gentle creature once wild and free in the jungle now facing uncertainty in the hands of man. But how can this concept be taught to the captor, an aging tribesman, who probably survived through the years foraging the jungle for whatever creature he could catch to trade for food and other necessities?
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- Macros & Close-ups 5: Fire and Rain
- Macros & Close-ups 4: Pistil
- Macros & Close-ups 3: Wheelchair
- Macros & Close-ups 2: Surf
- Macros & Close-ups 1: Morning Dew
The drag of endless mental work in a strange land takes its toll. Fatigue can kill so petty escapades provide hopeful deviations from the brewing madness. An aging DSLR keeps good company to a walk around the neighbourhood, a short drive to a scenic place, or a silent recollection in a quiet nook granting that the host community and the elements of nature would allow one a safe passage to solitude and contemplation. Loneliness quickly turns to joy when something exciting gets captured by the cam’s shutter then set free into the laptop’s screen followed by electric words that rush from the fingers to the keyboard in an effort to describe the moment. Alas, the brain is alive once again!
Such a shame to see this but important to show the world just what some people do to survive.
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True. Photography doesn’t have to be about happy things all the time.
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This photo made me upset … poor thing. Will be trade and killed maybe .. kept as a pet and maybe be abused – how sad. Really affected me and even if your photo is good – I don’t like it.
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Sorry to upset you, viveka, but this is reality and yes, it hurts.
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I know .. I know – not your fault that I got upset … so please don’t be sorry on my behalf.
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There are several photos that made shook me to my core but also connected me to the sufferings of others. They at once shrunk me but also opened up the world and its realities to me.
One is “The Napalm Girl” photo from the Vietnam war. The second was taken by Kevin Carter of a starving child in the foreground and with a vulture in the back ground.
I have followed this blog for a relatively short time but it seems to me you take photos of life. Where people are, who they are and what the use to live. Keep taking the shots you need to as well as the ones you want to. Peace.
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I’m a fan of those photos as well — not necessarily of the harsh reality they portray but of the intense sadness, even anger, that they evoke on the viewer. We sometimes need to be punched on the face by a photo that wakes us up to the brutal realities of life.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and for following this blog.
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My pleasure.
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Sad and yet maybe someday man will figure out something better. It’s up to us … all of us.
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True, very true, Gina.
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Not so sure that pressing the like button was the correct action. I also share the sentiments of Jagged Man above
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Thanks, David.
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Poor guy. Being a nature lover, things like this always tug… But how do we answer the question of what is more important- the animal, or its captor’s hungry child?
My mother has a beautiful Red-Sided Eclectus Parrot (Bella) that I am likely to inherit as they have fairly long life-spans. She was acquired from a man who rescues exotic birds, and it is so sad how many he has that were seriously abused and/or neglected by their owners.
This photo was likely the fate of Bella’s “grandparrots”… the breed is native to Papua New Guinea.
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