Hats off to Luis Vasconcelos for this powerful picture.
The caption says, “An indigenous woman holds her child while trying to resist the advance of Amazonas state policemen who were expelling the woman and some 200 other members of the Landless Movement from a privately-owned tract of land on the outskirts of Manaus, in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon March 11, 2008. The landless peasants tried in vain to resist the eviction with bows and arrows against police using tear gas and trained dogs. REUTERS/Luiz Vasconcelos-A Critica/AE (BRAZIL)”.
Images of heavy-handed oppression really don’t come much better than this - defenceless, screaming woman clutching naked child is shoved and beaten by faceless, armoured authority.
The symbols are reinforced by the strong composition. The woman and her child appear all the more vulnerable as the only elements of humanity and colour against the advancing wall of shields and boots.Such a potent image leaves very little room for any doubt. In such circumstances do we need to know the details of the dispute to have any doubts that what we are witnessing is wrong?
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Yes very powerful. Not sure why grown men would feel a need to assault this woman. In a civilized society if she was squatting (land grabbing) she would have been handcuffed and taken to jail if she kept refusing to leave the private property.
- Posted by Joemy question for this image is .. WHY is that woman doing that? it is pretty obvious that those guys don’t mean any harm , those are riot cops, with shields for DEFENSE. they don’t SPRINT after people as a group and slam into them with their shields, obviously the lady stood there and refused to move for them, putting herself and that naked baby in danger
- Posted by austin[...] | incoming hURRLs | getting started | FAQ | blog Voila, the hURRL you reqested …1 hURRLs - http://blogs.reuters.com/photo/2008/03/1 2/this-one-is-worth- [...] (first hURRLed by mmathias @ 1 minute ago /// permalink) What else is hot right now?3 hURRLs [...]
- Posted by hURRLey - i am social bookmarking!I see the woman holding on to the shield of one of the policemen. Why is she doing that? Why is she not running away, especially since she has a baby in her arms. She is obviously able to stand up, and there doesn’t appear to be any injuries stopping her from running away, so why is she standing there, not moving, with a baby in her arm, holding onto the shield of the policeman?
Furthermore, the woman looks as if she’s refusing to move. The police on the left side of the picture are more advanced than the police behind the women, which seems as if she’s pushing back against the police.
While I do believe that there are many things wrong in their society that needs to be created, and feel sympathy for the landless people, I’m also aware that the police in the photo were following out orders and enforcing the right to personal property, and they were using nonlethal weapons and had recently been attacked by people using possibly lethal weapons.
- Posted by james[...] This is a relatively old pic but I thought it’s really powerful.http://blogs.reuters.com/photo/ 2008/03/12/this-one-is-worth-a-thousand- words/” rel=”dc:s… [...]
- Posted by FuzzLinks.com » This One is Worth a Thousand WordsThis is amazing. The issues I think I have are nothing in comparison. At least someone is documenting these events and leaving no cover for the perpetrators of this act.
- Posted by Paulettegreat photo, so what? sure it means something to you and me, as we are of a culture that values human life and human rights, but you don’t really have the same attitude here and you can’t really impose tthese values on people who have no interest in them, really.
unfortunately, little can be done to lessen these situations here in Brasil. The government and the wealthy individuals that run this country have no incentive to change their system or practices. It is a very corrupt and established caste system that uses the population for their own benefit without regard for their welfare or the value of human life. little support and infrastructure for the country’s population is provided, i.e education, healthcare, roads, sanitation, etc. It looks like a beautiful country, with happy, compassionate and caring people (and many are), but live here for a while and you will see the real Brasil, a third world country with tremendous resources controlled by a few families and million of poor people with no chance of an improved quality of life ever! Why do you think a majority or the great brasilian athletes live in Europe?
unless you take the money and power away from those in control and reprogram the minds of the brasilian people, nothing will ever change. so good luck.
- Posted by wayne smith[...] in vain to resist the eviction with bows and arrows against police using tear gas and trained dogs. REUTERS/Luiz Vasconcelos-A Critica/AE [...]
- Posted by » Meanwhile… » A totanus in the net » Blog ArchiveEesa, you have it so wrong, you’re so far off the point and so ignorant of the environment where this happened and of the political and social circumstances, I don’t even know where to begin. In fact, I won’t.
Yes, the Landless not only are a semi-terrorist group, they have been linked over and over again with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a full blown terrorist group. And by linked I don’t mean “talked about in the same sentence”, I mean drug money and guns back and forward between the two groups.
She’s a martyr, all right. One of those martyrs used by these very humanitarian organizations to promote their cause through sensationalist media and by causing guilt on well fed Europeans who will weep and ask “is there a way find out if they are ok?”, but not bother to read up on the whole issue.
- Posted by Vivienwhat are the simultaneous informative and expressive levels of meaning within this image?
- Posted by soniaAdmittedly, I have not read through all of the comments which came up since I first looked at this post, so pardon if I’m reiterating what someone else said.
As a reporter it is important to acknowledge how photographs can paint a story, true. But politics aside, this image shows a single, simple scene, and it conveys the emotion of THAT ONE SCENE amazingly well.
And, most importantly to myself as a photographer, it is an amazing photograph.
- Posted by Skyler Reid[...] Reuters Ação da polícia contra os sem terras no Estado do [...]
- Posted by A Marcha da Insensatez - Brasil » Blog do Mesquita «:’(
- Posted by someonethats so sad
it evokes so much compassion. very moving.
- Posted by JessI have read many of your comments on this
- Posted by Truepicture, many of you have called this woman
brave aswell as saying that the picure saddens
you. Im sure the lady realised that squatting there
would result in her being removed and if we where
to be honest with each other putting her child
in that situation is not very brave is it??
Well done Luiz Vasconcelos and Reuters for a materpiece of a centre page spread in the Guardian March 13th 2008 (Manaus, Brazil). Just brilliant. Geoff Ryan
- Posted by Geoff RyanCheck out the club coming from the shields right above her head :-p. Bonk lol.
- Posted by JamesI saw this few days ago in my local paper.hope this photo will win many awards
- Posted by ahweiThough the title of the post is cliche the picture is definately not. It speaks volumes….
- Posted by Diana NgilaHow unbelievable….So many cowards in the world. None are men enough to show their faces
- Posted by Betsy