A better title might be “The Children of La Chureca” as well, because I imagine that la Chureca is a lot more than just children.

Anyway, a moving piece and makes me feel privileged to be living the life I am.

One thing I like about the movie Slumdog Millionaire is it kind of does that a bit, even though the conditions are awful there are scenes where when they are little children that show the beauty of childhood, the fun and grace of being children. In environments that are over run with children when they are little there is a certain freedom and fun they have that ends most of the time way too early and sad, but many times it is the best times of their lives too. There are also other movies and books I have read that show this. For me that is one of the beautiful parts of being a child, their brains are wired differently and they can actually figure out ways to laugh and do crazy fun things in the worst of conditions while when we become adults our minds change and it is so hard to do and drugs become a means of trying to escape our mind from the reality.

Thank you, appreciate it! Besides this one just not being one’s cup of tea, I think with this work the more experienced eye is able to appreciate it differently or perhaps more (generally speaking) than one who f.e. hasn’t seen such a wide variety (or on this subject many stereotypes) of essays/ series. Looking/ being aware of f.e. the approach to the subject, the subtle/ delicate, every day-life way of showing this place instead of screaming it at you.
It is outside the box, for me, I sort of sensed this essay is different/ good, it put me off in the first place and it took me little more time to find out/ see why. That f.e. this “perspective” and in result the type of images, on first glance also a bit dull/ passive to me, actually is one of it’s real strenghts. I think this work has a very strong energy, whether you like this feel or not..I don’t really like the feel, but you just can’t ignore it, I think that is something good/ special. In this case I feel/see the subject more than the photography-/ style- part of it, while this part also being strong, but not dominant to the subject. For me one of the reasons why I do like it a lot. Burn: Very inspiring, thanks (and all others) for these insights and this excellent platform, looking forward to upcoming essays/ singles!

Bye, David

sorry, i should have said :

this essay could have been just another one of dozens and dozens of stories done on people living in trash dumps …if a photographer told me that she/he has done a story on families living in a trash dump, my eyes would probably glaze over…

there are so so many such stories all just playing on the uniqueness and obvious “drama” …

however, because of his RAW TALENT as a photographer and his clear humanity, Brian Shumway has taken us away from one of the cliches in photojournalism and drawn us into the power of his vision which transcends purely “documentary”…

i could pull out many “stand alone” photographs from this set….however, together they form a unique whole…Brian is definitely a photographer we will all be seeing him in the future…..yes, the man is special..keep an eye on him…

cheers, david

Ahhh Mike…
you have the best-est
sense of humor around here………
love u man
:))))))))))))

Andrea, “Which doesn’t mean discussion and comments are wrong or not interesting, just…i don’t know..a bit hypotetic. If you dig deep enough, you’ll always find something.” yes; to paraphrase Abraham Lincoln “You can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not please all of the people all of the time”. Brian, to your own self be true. I’m sure that you are. Thank you for expanding our understanding.

Mike.

I’m glad as well, I don’t find it to be so.

Why do you think your work has escaped that all too common critique. Maybe you have some insight into this?

jan, i’m happy i was able to (at least somewhat) win you over.

jared, i’m glad this hasn’t been seen as exploitative (as least thus far!). but that does happen all too often in this kind of work…

The situation pisses me off. How many doctors etc. are looking for plastic bottles? But beautiful photographs. A paradox.

Best wishes to all,

Mike.

Reading your first comment/ reaction, what do you mean by this essay being special in every way?

Bye, David

The change in order and really changes the mood. I can’t put my finger on it, but I think it infiltrates rather than confronts.

I am particularly taken in by #3, a new addition. I can’t help but be impartial to the non-center composition I mentioned earlier, and this image is what I had in mind as an alternative to that type of composition in the best of ways.

I don’t know if you realized it consciously or not, but there is a great deal of harmony in the use of triangles here. You have three heads, reinforced in the center by the angle of her arm and then further underlined by her breast. In the top right you have the pin-points of light that bring the eye up to the black so successfully, and that is counter-weighted by the baby’s eyes and nose and then further touched by her downward glance. The exposure whitening on the left compliments the upper right’s darkness. There is the interplay of the flower’s on the dress and the pin-points of light. If one wanted to, the allegory of the father (substituted for the most Latin of symbols–the Virgin Mary), son, holy ghost (the Trinity and Triangles) could be summened from within thos with religious inclinations–or on a deeper level a human archetype. And to boot, I feel YOU in the picture, as if you managed to rescue something for us to see. I realize this may seem like a technical roadmap to explaining beauty, but I’m only trying to break down the why I find this so powerful and congratulate the marriage of esthetics with your personal signature and magic. Congratulations.

as per your request, the essay images and accompanying text have been updated.