Photo Contest Bluelight Photography Contest Round 378: Outrageous

[hydroazuanacaine]

this round's theme is Outrageous, suggested by Jamshyd. voting is open to all ...

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scubagirl200

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hydroazuanancaine

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socko

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Bluesbreaker

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thujone

poll will be open until April 13

Next Round's Theme: who knows make a recommendation here

 

[scubagirl200]

I took this photo on my first diving excursion in Ambergris Caye, Belize. In shallow waters colors are obviously more vivid than they are on deeper dives. I remember being surprised when I snapped this photo. The flash really captured the outrageous colors!

 

[sigmond]

stunning scuba! it nearly gave me a seizure when i opened this thread.

NSFW:

you have my vote

 

[hydroazuanacaine]

"outrageous" because this is tucked away in some garbage alley where almost no one ever sees it. taken on fuji instax wide 300.

 

[socko]

stunning scuba! it nearly gave me a seizure when i opened this thread.

NSFW:

you have my vote

Where's your entry? Nothing shows up in the nsfw tag.

 

[socko]

"The Vulture and the Little Girl"

edit: I changed my entry to the most horrible thing I photographed on March 21. Then I cropped it to emphasize the blood on the baby's swollen lips. I thought it might make people feel outraged.

Just before the subway entrance sits a teenaged girl, her head bowed in grief, her hair confused and greasy, her arms holding her knees. She sits on a dirty piece of foam on the sidewalk. She shares her soiled blanket with a young child. Next to her is a paper cup. In that little cup people drop money.

They almost always look up and ask for money when somebody approaches. Strangely, this beggar mother didn't look up at me as I walked up to her this time.She was overcome by her own sorrow. I stopped near them in a way that wasn't obviously intrusive, took a photo, and continued past her and stopped next to the metro entrance.

As I wait for my assistant to arrive, many people passing give her money. They're doing the "Right Thing," helping people less fortunate. Many look emotionally relieved as they make their offerings, like they have been given a blessing. They're nice people unlike me or you. They will give the needy the shirts off their backs.

I've passed by the beggar girl for a year. Sometimes she has a different older baby or a couple of toddlers. Sometimes she has the baby girl in the photo. Today, she almost looks like she's about to strangle the baby. Or maybe she is trying to comfort her after punching her in the mouth for crying. Whatever the case, injuries are worth cash. This wasn't the first time I saw an injury like this.

There are 100s exactly like her just in this small part of the city. There are 10000s throughout the entire city. Just like a cheap Eiffel Tower souvenir key chain, "Madonna with child" is mass-produced and on display for the tourists and other suckers. The operation is a scam. Every thing about her has been carefully engineered to arouse sympathy, guilt, and maybe even shame in thé casual passer-by.

I've watched her and others work - the child beggars working alone and women with or without a real baby. Sometiems it's a fake baby, or if it's a real child, they often rent babies by the day for this purpose. This baby appears to me to be unnaturally sleepy - reportedly they are drugged with heroin or fed cough syrup. Or maybe she has a concussion. Sometimes the babies are dead.

I know dozens like her by sight. It is interesting to watch them in action. They always wear the same dirty, ragged clothes. They always have body odor. They often have fresh injuries. They hold out a paper cup that only has a few copper coins on the bottom. They always rattle the cup and say ‘Please Monsieur, a euro for me and my child.’

People are always giving them money. And food, even to the fat beggars, and many are very fat. People don't have common sense and are easy to gyp. (This is the origin of he word gyp). Many of the fat gypsies use animals as props to fool the public. In fact, there is a fat middle aged man with rosy cheeks and his german shephard dog about 10 meters away with a piece of card board that says ‘My dog and I are hungry, Please help us. Thank you.’ He’s been earning a living doing this every day at the same spot for longer than I have lived here. The fat man is surrounded by unopened packages of food, candy, bottled soft drinks, and gourmet dog food. This isn't Ethiopia in a famine. Across the street and down a little way is a middle-aged fat gypsy woman withan unusually bad disposition. She has a pet rabbit and flies a piece of cardboard with the same note on it. She alternates between asking for money and scolding everybody who looks at her rabbit without giving her money. I have a photo of her yelling at somebody. 50 feet beyond that harpie is yet another fat gypsy beggar woman with a pet cat. They are all surrounded by mounds of food.

One man controls a large number of beggars in an area. He assigns each one a busy spot to work. He makes his rounds, collecting their earnings several times per day, and handing them their lunch, snacks, supper, etc. At the end of the day, the beggar groups snd families gather at the metro entrance where they meet, gossip, and go home together. They all live in big trailer or gypsy caravan parks on the edges of the city.

She belongs to th3 infamous gypsy Mendicant Guild, a kind of labor union/gang of highly skilled professional beggars. It is ruled by a gypsy king back home in Romania.

There have been reports and criminal investigations into this. Picture Hell's Angels but with slavery and child abuse. The beggar business is operated by gangs who own luxery properties and expensive cars in Romania. The babies serve as props. A link has been reported between child trafficking and child begging. There are striking similarities to Fagin's gang of urchins in Oliver Twist. There are reports of child mutilation for the purpose of pity donations. Violence and abuse are daily occurrences.

Some of the beggars very aggressive and follow, push, and grab people (I assume as a ruse to distract them so they can pick pocket them. The worst are teenaged boys and able-bodied men younger than 30 or so. I have actually seen them stick their hand in somebody's pocket. 1000s of people report being pickpocketed here each year). Not only that, but when they are on a break from their begging, I have watched them brazenly steal things from shops. Photographing them is dangerous too. They or their backup are known to become violent when photographed.

I notice the beggar girl keeps emptying the cup into her pockets so only a few copper pieces are on the bottom for display. Although it was late morning and not so busy, within the 15 minutes I waited, about 20 people gave her money. Most were coins and some were cash. The smallest denomination of the Euro is a €5 note. So, she earned a minimum of 20€ in 15 minutes. And this is during a slow period after the morning rush hour and before the lunch rush. You can do the math. If she sits there long enough, all day, every day, and she does...

p.s. the mobîle edit feature is broken. It deletes the entry instead of saving changes

 

[sigmond]

if true, that is certainly outrageous socko. it reminds me of a scene from some movie i watched as a kid. the guy parks his brand new Mercedes, takes off his mink coat, grabs his cardboard sign, and then walks a few blocks to his begging station.

i can't find a suitable photo that would be worth posting.

Sometimes the babies are dead

sorry, i missed this part...ah wtf?

 

[socko]

There was a recent article about a street person arrested for having a dead baby.

Its not the beggars themselves who are rich. They live in broken down trailers. The bosses back in romania who own them have th3 mink coats and Mercedes.

The situation with the gypsies in Europe is similar to the beggar gangs in India. Gypsies did in fact come from India centuries ago.

the us is different. It's rare but some of beggars are what you describe.

 

[sigmond]

so its essentially human trafficking/slavery. are you seeing any Syrian refugees/migrants?

i'll try to find a photo - i know i already lost though.

 

[socko]

Yes, it is that - child trafficking, slavery, and abuse of women and children. If the 'mother' stops earning from begging, her controller could force her into prostitution. School-aged children are on the streets instead of in school. Off to the side, able-bodied adult men sit and drink all day as they watch over the women beggars they control. It's known to be a social problem here. They are all over Western Europe. They come here because it is very profitable here. Although based in Romania, Romanians tend to know it's a scam and they don't make as much money there.

In Paris, I haven't seen Syrian refugees. There are more in other parts of France. There are, however, a lot of migrants from before Syria.

Also, although the 'mother' ignored me, she pestered nearly everybody else who walked by her. She didn't do anything to tend the baby's injury. She did not wipe the blood or put medicine on the wound. I did not see baby open her eyes or even move once.

ps:

As I mentioned, the babies are unnaturally sleepy. They almost never even move during their shift. They do not wake when jostled and do not startle in response to loud noises. A reason the babies sometimes die during the working day is because their small bodies cannot withstand the drugs and alcohol their 'mothers' give them to keep them quiet while begging.

 

[socko]

Here is an article about a police raid in UK and Romania that uncovered 200 children kidnapped by a gypsy crime and sex slave gang. The children were stolen, forced to steal, beg, and commit other crimes. If tgey refused they were beaten and told their families would be harmed. Gang leaders in romania were found with newly built luxury houses jewelry cars, military grade weapons and cash. It's become an epidemic in the last 20 years.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...ildren-from-homes-to-use-them-as-beggars.html

 

[hydroazuanacaine]

i'll try to find a photo - i know i already lost though.

if you think you lost because of someone else's amazing photo, fair enough. but if you think you've lost because of deadlines, nope. we're officially open for submissions until the poll is added.

 

[sigmond]

if you think you lost because of someone else's amazing photo, fair enough. but if you think you've lost because of deadlines, nope. we're officially open for submissions until the poll is added.

its the former + i couldn't find a suitable photo. gonna be a tough vote, initially i figured scuba was a shoo-in but the other entries are exemplary!

 

[socko]

Your entry in the last round was excellent. Don't worry.

 

[Bluesbreaker]

 

[thujone]

caught this in passing one day, by the time i walked back it was already gone...

 

[sigmond]

^^^ how i feel when someone tries to take my picture - leonardo put on some weight eh?

NSFW:

 

[hydroazuanacaine]

voting is open!

 

[thujone]

Canada geese are nutso, saw a pair the other day squawking at cars. They leave fresh turds all over the bike trails :'(

 

[sigmond]

a great contest!!! five submissions + a goose head!!

bump for more votes..

(oh and the reason for my last post was because bluesbreakers photo disappeared then reappeared)