The Outtakes

This snap is an outtake from Outskirts, in collaboration with Artemis Projects and curated by Ira Ferris. Going through a process of selecting the rights photos for an exhibit, whilst exciting, can have its painful moments. Leaving out photographs that have a high visual value or to which the photographer has an emotional attachment, is not easy. Both situations apply to this photograph. I clearly remember the moment when this kid, in the Anlung Pi village in Cambodia, was sneaking through the window of the classroom, mesmerized because of the film that the kids in the class were watching on the TV. However, when selecting photos for Outskirts, it didn't fit in the narrative that was being told. More than that, I realized through the reaction of other people, that they were imagining what was out of the frame very differently than what the reality was. Most of the viewers imagined off-screen content that went towards the fact that this kid was enclosed behind a fence that was limiting his freedom. I did not want to pass this message, especially because I was there and I could witness what these kids felt, what they felt was exactly the opposite, they felt hope for a future with more freedom. I witnessed the dreams about the future being born right there, distant from our western assumptions.

More from Outskirts: https://www.vqueiroz.com/outskirts