Nepal crematorium scene - warning mature content

[Rags]

Father /son combo of untouchables operating a crematorium... Nepal

Rags

 

[robbins.photo]

Wow.. that's really gross. Maybe a bit of a warning next time?

 

[Rags]

Gross???...

Nah just a cultural difference, it's how Hindu's wish to go - it's their preference and they don't think it's gross...

This is an adult site, isn't it?

Rags

 

[robbins.photo]

Gross???...

Nah just a cultural difference, it's how Hindu's wish to go - it's their preference and they don't think it's gross...

This is an adult site, isn't it?

Rags

Well if your posting title had a little more warning info, no problem - as it is given it is the holiday season and right after thanksgiving this is not at all what is expected from the title. As to the rest, well cultural differences or not, once you've actually experienced the smell of burning human flesh it sort of stays with you - pretty much forever. And if you happen to get that experience in a highly unpleasant way, well then this sort of thing goes from being something you apparently thought of as a funny joke into something that brings back some of the most horrific memories imaginable for some. So maybe you could revise the posting title and give a bit of warning before you do it to someone else in addition to myself.

 

[Rags]

It's no joke.. I tried to change the title but couldn't...

Maybe you should broaden your horizons and welcome some knowledge about other cultures and resist judgement.

Rags

 

[robbins.photo]

It's no joke.. I tried to change the title but couldn't...

Maybe you should broaden your horizons and welcome some knowledge about other cultures and resist judgement.

Rags

As for my knowledge of other cultures, frankly your talking out of your ass on that one. You haven't the slightest clue as to what my life experience has been, and if you did you would never have made such a colossally ignorant statement. As for the rest, maybe you should stop preaching sensitivity and start practicing some. I think we're done here.

 

[runnah]

I think it's great and the fact that it gets Robby so upset is even better.

The photo really shows the stark differences between how our two cultures view life and death. We fear it and others embrace it. Rob's comments are the icing on the cake, he finds it so offensive whereas the child in the scene doesn't. Rob is traumatized by even a photo or smell of death as opposed to a child who is probably delighted to help his father with his work.

 

[robbins.photo]

I'm so happy that I could amuse you runnah. Now if you'll excuse me I need to go drink a toast to my friend Franklin. You see, it's been decades since he died, but I still carry him with me everywhere I go - quite literally. I have pieces of shrapnel that came from his skeleton embedded in my own. While they were able to remove a lot of the shrapnel that resulted from his stepping on a betty, they couldn't get it all. So it's still in there. I was only a couple of feet away when it happened. I don't know for sure if Franklin absorbed most of the blast on purpose or if it was just dumb luck. That is just one of just many oh so pleasant memories this little joke has now dredged up.

So I'm very glad you find that amusing. I'm also happy that the two of you still don't seem to get it at all, this has nothing to do with cultural differences or anything so patently ridiculous. It has to do with a bad joke that was told in horribly bad taste. But by all means, get a good laugh out of it. Pat yourselves on the back and feel as superior as you wish. Get together and do a church lady dance if it will make you feel better about yourselves. Me, I've got some bourbon to drink and the life of a really decent human being to celebrate.

 

[Sventek]

robbins.photo, I'm truly sorry that you've had that awful experience. However, I don't think it's ever appropriate to expect others to think of every possible outcome, and then censor their behaviour accordingly. So, I don't think it's at all reasonable to expect Rags to anticipate your personal history. Your issues are 'your' issues, and while I'm not at all surprised to hear that you're affected every day by what happened, I don't think you should expect other people to take responsibility for them and change what they do. There is nothing at all confronting about the image itself, and if we hadn't been told what it was, I don't think that many people would have guessed it.

 

[robbins.photo]

robbins.photo, I'm truly sorry that you've had that awful experience. However, I don't think it's ever appropriate to expect others to think of every possible outcome, and then censor their behaviour accordingly. So, I don't think it's at all reasonable to expect Rags to anticipate your personal history. Your issues are 'your' issues, and while I'm not at all surprised to hear that you're affected every day by what happened, I don't think you should expect other people to take responsibility for them and change what they do. There is nothing at all confronting about the image itself, and if we hadn't been told what it was, I don't think that many people would have guessed it.

Reread the thread and the original reply. I said nothing about my personal history originally, merely suggested that Rags should have given us some warning and frankly the message title was deceiving and in poor taste. The rest resulted from Rags jumping on his high horse and preaching to me about sensitivity, and Runnah's little superior dance.

 

[Rags]

If my shots engage and disrupt, I have been successful...

I'm sorry for Robbins loss, but we have all lost someone we love - we just don't wear it on our chest.

If I were him, I would have a series of shots of people and children who have survived land mines, cynical, depressive..?

Sure, but some things need more light

This is a PJ forum and cameras as tools can be used to educate

Rags

 

[The_Traveler]

Back to the picture.
I think that the brilliant top edge hurts the total picture.
Although it does remove some content, I think the picture would be stronger with a different tighter crop that eliminates that top.

 

[Overread]

Mod notice:

1) Title changed and warning added

2) Please lets keep clam and respectful to all people, not need to fight.

3) The forums operate to a family friendly general policy (with the exception of the adult/nsfw subsection). Please note that content which is found to cross the line is either removed from view (if the user who started the thread isn't a subscribed members) or is moved to the nsfw subsection (if the user is a subscribed member and thus can continue to read the replies).


Back to the photo I agree with Travellers crop suggestion; removing the bright and distracting grey sky refocuses the view on the actual scene being played out. A bit of a shame to lose the viewers on the bridge as that does add an element of social and cultural interest that is somewhat lost in the crop - however the sky is distracting. (Bright areas tend to draw the eye's attention so when its bright and away from the main subject with no interest and no link to draw back to the subject its a distraction).

 

[Rags]

I think it's great and the fact that it gets Robby so upset is even better.

The photo really shows the stark differences between how our two cultures view life and death. We fear it and others embrace it. Rob's comments are the icing on the cake, he finds it so offensive whereas the child in the scene doesn't. Rob is traumatized by even a photo or smell of death as opposed to a child who is probably delighted to help his father with his work.

Thanks for the positive comments folks: runnah

The real story here is the son is learning the crematorium business because a caste system is in place there. Untouchables can make a better than average living, but there is no lateral or upward mobility for them - they are born into it.

Untouchables can handle garbage, etc, they cannot visit some places and upper caste can't associate with them

It's institutionalized social discrimination... (Hindu Communities)

Rags

 

[Derrel]

I have to disagree with cropping out the sky and the crowd of funeral guests. Cropping out the sky eliminates a crowd of twenty-five people, all silhouetted against the sky, and looking downward, where the funeral cremation is taking place. Eliminating the sky changes the emphasis of the photo into what looks like a man setting afire a pile of rubbish down in some type of open sewer canals. Cropping off the sky and the funeral crowd totally ruins the shot.With the funeral viewers eliminated, the guy might as well be torching a pile of garbage. Removing a critical aspect of the shot, the crowd of twenty-five people who are gathered and who are WATCHING a body being burned, in an unthinking manner really makes no sense. The viewers are THERE, WATCHING the body being cremated...THAT is the shot!