Financially talking, what it means to be poor? In my own words it is to be deprived of clean water, electricity, it means that you don't have access to a stable clean and organized home, and therefore pushed to live under circumstances that no one would call artistry or glamorous if that was their everyday reality. In this post I am going to dive in how I believe that poverty is a luxury that only privileged rich and famous people can afford without the humiliation and the desperation of being poor.
ART & Photography
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| unsplash.com |
Part of being artistic entails finding beauty everywhere. We appreciate architecture, forms, colors, textures, objects and the list goes on. Myself included, I love creating artistic pictures in abandoned places like buildings, homes and even streets. When you are an artist you simply cannot resist the urge of exploring your options to hopefully find your voice and purpose in doing this. But, when should I draw a fine line between finding beauty in all things above or below and the pain and suffering of others? The most human answer (in my opinion) is that you should explore these options only if you want to join the conversation and raise awareness about social disparity.
Let's talk about Cuba.
I hate when Cuba is treated as an exotic destination for rustic photo-shots. Why? because they are facing the pain of restrictions. They have been living under a dictatorship that has not allowed their citizens to rise and shine at a full capacity.
Is art a vehicle to expose social injustice? Yes. Nevertheless, artists should never profit from that kind of art. It is not ethical to profit from the suffering of others. Even if people have agreed to be photographed and put a smile on their face, chances are their hearts are not smiling.
The Fashion Industry
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| Photoshoot for Vogue by David Mushegian |
The Fashion industry often portrays poverty as an exotic topic by featuring glamorous models in deteriorated houses. Notice how this kind of pictures are glamorous for a high fashion magazine but, in normal blogs like these one, would it be a sign of poverty? Why do I ask this question? because the photographer is portraying poverty as an exotic lifestyle for the rich.
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| This picture was found googling in google images. |
I think is fair to say that poverty is being handled as having an adventure rather than a problem of social inequality for non-privileged individuals. And here I go again with this never ending topic: the huge gap between the rich and the poor that makes the rich neglect the necessity of the non privileged. Privileged individuals believe that throwing candy around poor places, is bringing happiness to the broken.
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| Photo-shoot for Vogue India by Jean Francois |
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| Photo-shoot for Vogue India by Jean Francois |
Who told fashion magazines that using poor places was a good scenario to display glamorous well paid models with an extravagant life?
Also, I need to mention some fashion trends such as the use of ripped clothes and shirts with holes... pieces that the poor are forced to wear as a result of not having the means to buy new clothing.
Privileged People Doing Things That The Poor Are Forced To Do
Am I the only one that gets triggered whenever a rich youtuber make a video titled "Working as a waitress for a day". Hmm, I am not speaking against the job, but being a waitress can be stressful to certain individuals. Therefore, being a waitress for a day just for fun or for sponsorships is disrespectful to the people that have to endure naughty and cruel clients which take advantage of their client position to make workers feel miserable.
Nothing but the truth.
My final example is Kendall Jenner and her dinning table. Notice how the chairs are not the same style and they don't look good at all. Let me tell you that I have been in houses that live like this everyday; plastic chairs, wooden scratched chairs and fake leather chairs in one table... a sad reality happening in 2021. But because is Kendall Jenner, this seems to be exotic, this seems to be art and even worse, something to praise her...
I can't say that she is a horrible person for having this as her home decor. I don't know her and never will, but this is a clear example of how privilege works against the poor and of course in favor of the rich.
This post is not to emphasize the rich vs poor futile battle that has been going on for ages. It is about calling the events by their names and realizing how society is failing to the most vulnerable population that probably will never enjoy things such as food, events, items, and places that most of us are lucky to fully enjoy right now.
The fact that poverty is being used as an exotic topic to create high fashion content speaks with indifference to the ones that need to be helped and heard. If the fashion industry wants to use this topic, they also should raise awareness on how they can help to ease a problem that seems to be glorified in their content.
Keep moving forward,
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