Happy in the midst of horrors
Uploaded: May 08, 2005
I couldn't believe how readily this little one smiled. She smiled in spite of spending the majority of her life in that crib and having gotten almost no individual attentin ever.
Camera unknown...borrowed camera with cheapest b&w film possible.
Olivia Navarro May 08, 2005
Hey Sara, welcome to BP!!!Your description of this shot is so moving. What a sad life for such a beautiful child. You captured her wonderfully. #246523
Sara Jensen May 08, 2005
Thank you. It amazed me how loving and responsive many of the children were, in spite of the life they were living and the future they had in store for them. Black and white film just seemed the absolute best way to emphasize the bleakness and yet not detract from the picture either. #1332145Connie J. Turner June 01, 2005
What a beautiful picture. It gave me goose bumps. I wished I could just take her out of there! #1421087Sara Jensen June 02, 2005
Thank you. I truly hated leaving all the children there. I know that a few of the lucky got adopted, some wouldn't survive once the missionaries left, and others would go on to be prostitutes or thieves. I will forever carry the experience with me and I hope it changed me for the better. I really did want to smuggle several of the children out with me. Especially those with the bleakest future, like Rudina, a littk girl with Down Syndrome, and a couple of the gypsy children. #1423234Judi Liosatos June 05, 2005
This is very beautiful. I have had my children in hospital on occasion and it is amazing how full of life they can be when surrounded by such sorrow.Thankyou so kindly for your wonderful comment on my image.
Judi #1432120
Sara Jensen June 05, 2005
JudiThis little girl thankfully isn't in a hospital in this picture since she's in Albania and the hospital is even worse than the orphanage this was taken in. The hospitals are sad scary places in Albania (many doctors did not graduate from medical school but just bought their license) and the mental "hospitals" are really just a place to stick a piece of "trash" till it dies.
I hope your children were only in hospital for small accidents and nothing serious or lasting. My eldest boy has been in 4 times, 1 time for an MRI, 2 times for biting through his lip when he fell (only got 1 stitch one time and none the other) and another time for 8 stitches in his forehead. My second has so far avoided the hospital, thankfully! #1432995
Paulette Plakidas June 08, 2005
Beautiful work, Sara! I love how you've captured the expression in the little girl's eyes. #1447860Sara Jensen June 10, 2005
Thank you Paulette, she was very photogenic! #1454438Sign up for an interactive online photography course to get critiques on your photos.
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