Good Intentions

Westerners such as Zana Briski, a photojournalist, traveled to Calcutta, India to view the lives of prostitutes in the Red Light District. While there, she became friendly with the children of the prostitutes, and introduced them to photography as an outlet from the brothels they were raised in. The problem lies with the fact that Ms. Briski may have exploited the children for her own purposes. She had the children photograph their lives and documented it formally. Surely, the parents were under the assumption that when the documentary won a renowned award the children would share in the glory and wealth. Sadly, this was not the case. There is much controversy surrounding the documentary. I strongly encourage you to take a moment to watch a clip from the documentary that I have provided here. In this clip, children were transported to the schools where Ms. Briski had them enrolled. Also, it shows when one child is given the opportunity to showcase his photography. At the end of clip, it gives information on the students that Ms. Briski “helped” the most. From this we can grasp that families are better off without the intervention of Westerners.



As westerners with ideal lives and hardly any struggles, we have the resources as well as the desire to help others we think aren’t as fortunate. However, our desires can shadow our ability to be practical. Many people who are in bad situations don’t want help from outsiders, and those who are trying to help should know their limits. When considering this phenomenon, the topic of prostitution and a child’s involvement in the trade arises. Typically, arguments focusing on prostitution form a negative aura around it, thus depicting it as taboo. In the instances when children are involved, people are more prone to intervene. Sometimes, actions are taken to keep children away from such distasteful activity. If you stop for a moment and think about the lack of resources available to these people, you will come to realize that this is their only hope for survival. Yes, there are organizations willing to help and schools that can educate the people. However, by looking at the bigger picture we see that those are long term assets. Many of these families live day to day on their earnings and some they don’t see the money they make. By taking their children from them, people are taking sources of revenue also. For many, living in the brothels with their children provides a steady income, food to eat, a sense of security, as well as a roof over their heads. By traveling to these countries, or even trying to help from the comforts of our homes, we are dabbling in issues we have little or no knowledge about.