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thermalraven — On The Turning Away
Published: 2008-02-02 16:15:11 +0000 UTC; Views: 1993; Favourites: 95; Downloads: 76
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Description
This picture was inspired by the words of Pink Floyd.Take the time to listen to the song as you look at the picture. It is dedicated to the many children in the DRC who are victims of this dreaded civil war.
Portrait of Melabo to follow shortly....He is the kid in the Photo.
ON THE TURNING AWAY
On the turning away
From the pale and downtrodden
And the words they say
Which we wont understand
Dont accept that whats happening
Is just a case of others suffering
Or youll find that youre joining in
The turning away
Its a sin that somehow
Light is changing to shadow
And casting its shroud
Over all we have known
Unaware how the ranks have grown
Driven on by a heart of stone
We could find that were all alone
In the dream of the proud
On the wings of the night
As the daytime is stirring
Where the speechless unite
In a silent accord
Using words you will find are strange
And mesmerized as they light the flame
Feel the new wind of change
On the wings of the night
No more turning away
From the weak and the weary
No more turning away
From the coldness inside
Just a world that we all must share
Its not enough just to stand and stare
Is it only a dream that therell be
No more turning away?
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Comments: 70
Fantastic picture, there are few that can convey quite as much as this one does, and the lyrics are a perfect fit. Great work.
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"A momentary lapse of reason", you choose the best music band, the best and beautiful song to illustrate one of your marvelous photos.
I love your work and I love Africa
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This is a great picture, works well in the grayscale.
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He looks so lost and forlorn 
Perfect use of b/w. Very strong.
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i wish i could take n all of them home ay
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thank you
and thanx for the 
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amazing dude. I live in Africa....
Not DRC, but a lot of the same this goes on here in South-Africa.
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i dont think i can go back to living in South Africa...its much safer here in the war zones
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yeah...born and bred capetonian..but i have been out of sa travelling the world for the past 7 years
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awesome. i went around and about the UK for last year. after 8 months I just had to come home. missed SA too much. 
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very few south africans actually make it in the UK..the weather is just too kak
i have been..erm... ok... long list
oz
nz
tonga
samoa
fiji
uganda
rwanda
drc
burundi
namibia...i think thats all
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haha dit is nogal so. you have no idea what you just did to yourself.
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you will have to wait for the book like everyone else...its a kakhuis full
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hahaha 
thing is, i really have this thing for africa. and i possibly want to go and travel/work a bit around and in africa when i'm finished with my degree. and i dont want a damn audi TT, or a golf GTI, or whatever. I want a land cruiser.
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I will be honest,...Africa is not easy to travel through. To get an idea one should go to the Kalahari, or the Namib and spend some time with the people there..get to know the vasy differences in the cultures. You also need to learn to communicate, that in itself is a big problem..I speak isiXhosa, Swahili and Lingala...erm...it helps fuckall coz Swahili is spoken different in each country...even the French I know isnt understood in Chad..or France for that matter..
If you are really serious..I suggest your primary target should be the Ik Tribe in Uganda..Uganda is relatively stable and English is their main language followed by Atcholi. The Ik are a beautiful race of people caught between two warring tribes and there are fears that they would be extinct in a few years..
read the following
[link]
[link]
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thanx dude. the whole thing sounds really sad. but how do you actually get into something like that? get into a project that works with these people?
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worldvision
unicef
medicin sans frontiers
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Okay, well first I'm sorry it's taken me a long time to get round to this. As mentioned, I am not longer able to spend as much time on the puter, so I'm afraid I didn't even see this til yesterday. The
I was thinking about the image this morning on the way to work. I hadnt read the Pink Floyd lyrics at that time, they fit perfectly. But just going on the picture alone, I was thinking how it kind of encapsulates all your previous portraits. Although it does not allow the direct soul-baring eye contact of many of your portraits, it acts as almost a metaphor for what they tell us. The devastation, the isolation, the degrees of damage and despair. Your subjects generally have the survivor's cover of a calm exterior, and it is often only the eyes that hint at their life experience. In this though, while your young subject keeps perfect composure, his very being there speaks to us of a past and a present that are really impossible for an outsider to comprehend. We can only guess....imagine.....which is why this image is so vital. There is no question as to desolation. The kid gives an air of despair on one hand and a stoical resistance on the other. His crisp attire, his strong posture, seems to be saying 'okay so this is what happened, but I will look beyond it and remain strong. I will preserve myself in spite of all this.
To see such a tender young human whose circumstances have forced them to adopt the composure of a repsonsible adult is tragically not uncommon in areas of hardship, but I am still amazed by the power and strange beauty of this image.
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methinks me doth me foot in me own mouth too often placeth.
Let me first start by saying THANK YOU
since the day i started submitting this kind of work..it has always been your comment i looked forward to seeing. in a way...i felt you truly understood what i saw..it was through you i could portray what i felt, even though you have never experienced the same things i did. still you understood. it is your understanding that motivates me more than you would ever know. of the 6 million deviants..yours is the comment that means the most to me..it makes what i do worthwhile...ok..enough arse kissing
as for the photograph..if you read my journal you would have understood how the whole concept originated...this picture is surely different in that i felt the picture before i even took it. it wasnt the exact composition that i wanted..and yet..the way you explain...and understand it makes me realise just how much impact this war has had on me...and to what extent i will go to expose the suffering experienced here.
i know of a few people who have listened to the song...and stared at the photograph...and cried..
not crying for what they saw...but because they realise..that they too...have been turning away..
Robbie........
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I am not worthy, Malachai.....but I am deeply honoured that my meagre support is so very warmly received.
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M
you always do this....
thank you 
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I'm a big Pink Floyd fan and this is one of my favorit song, and I know what you mean, and there is no possible way to interpreted it any better than this photo. Regards !
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yip...i was hoping that would be the result
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lovely/touching shot. interesting black and white.
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