Ballet Slippers (Salgado #1)
"A picture is worth a thousand words." This age-old saying popped into my head while looking at the first pages of Sebastiao Salgado's book Migrations: Humanity in Transition. Aside from the introduction, the book has only photographs. A pamphlet in the book contains brief captions for each picture, explaining the situation. However, Salgado leaves the photographs to mostly speak for themselves. I gaze into the frozen eyes of the subjects, wanting to know more about them. Who are they? What are their stories? I will never know. The unknown is more haunting than any in-depth explanation Salgado could have given.
For Jewish people living in the Soviet Union, life was a nightmare. They received harsh persecution for their religion. Jewish culture was suppressed. Their leaders were unjustly thrown in prison. Millions of innocent Jewish people were slaughtered in Joseph Stalin's purges and in the Holocaust. They could not escape. When the Soviet Union collapsed, millions of them fled the area, heading to Israel. Many of them continued on to other locations. The United States accepted them as refugees, allowing them to resettle in the country. The transition proved to be difficult. Their culture clashed greatly with the American-born Jews as a result of prejudice and stereotypes. The Russian Jews people were viewed as lazy, poor, and often criminal.
The photograph that particularly struck my heart depicts a young ballerina in 1994. She attends the Brighton Ballet Theater of School of Performing Arts in Brighton Beach, a predominately Russian neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. About six or seven years-old, the young girl wears ballet slippers and a leotard. She leans against the steps of an old building. Cracks in the concrete snake up and down the building's foundation. Folding chairs and a backpack sit deserted amongst a forest of weeds. Russian graffiti spreads across the brick wall. The picture depicts how harsh and bleak the lives of the Jewish immigrants truly were.
According to Fred Lazin, a refugee is anyone who leaves their country and is "unable or unwilling to return...because of persecution...on account of race, religion, nationality" etc. They leave their homes, looking for a better life, yet they still face challenges in their new living environments. There are millions of them around the world. The aspiring ballerina is just one of many. I close my eyes and see that innocent face. Her despair burns my eyelids. I do not even know her name. How am I supposed to help her? I do not know the answer, and that fact haunts me. But I am determined to find a way. That is the power of Salgado's photographs: to show the harsh realities of the world and to motivate people like you and me to take a stand. So let's stand.
For Jewish people living in the Soviet Union, life was a nightmare. They received harsh persecution for their religion. Jewish culture was suppressed. Their leaders were unjustly thrown in prison. Millions of innocent Jewish people were slaughtered in Joseph Stalin's purges and in the Holocaust. They could not escape. When the Soviet Union collapsed, millions of them fled the area, heading to Israel. Many of them continued on to other locations. The United States accepted them as refugees, allowing them to resettle in the country. The transition proved to be difficult. Their culture clashed greatly with the American-born Jews as a result of prejudice and stereotypes. The Russian Jews people were viewed as lazy, poor, and often criminal.
The photograph that particularly struck my heart depicts a young ballerina in 1994. She attends the Brighton Ballet Theater of School of Performing Arts in Brighton Beach, a predominately Russian neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. About six or seven years-old, the young girl wears ballet slippers and a leotard. She leans against the steps of an old building. Cracks in the concrete snake up and down the building's foundation. Folding chairs and a backpack sit deserted amongst a forest of weeds. Russian graffiti spreads across the brick wall. The picture depicts how harsh and bleak the lives of the Jewish immigrants truly were.
According to Fred Lazin, a refugee is anyone who leaves their country and is "unable or unwilling to return...because of persecution...on account of race, religion, nationality" etc. They leave their homes, looking for a better life, yet they still face challenges in their new living environments. There are millions of them around the world. The aspiring ballerina is just one of many. I close my eyes and see that innocent face. Her despair burns my eyelids. I do not even know her name. How am I supposed to help her? I do not know the answer, and that fact haunts me. But I am determined to find a way. That is the power of Salgado's photographs: to show the harsh realities of the world and to motivate people like you and me to take a stand. So let's stand.
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"History." Brighton Ballet Theater School of Russian Ballet. Brighton Ballet Theater Co., Web. 18 Sept. 2013. <http://www.brightonballet.com/sch_history.htm>.
Kliger, Sam. "Russian-Jewish Immigrants in the U.S: Social Portrait, Challenges, and AJC Involvement." AJC Russian. Web. 18 July 2013. <http://www.ajcrussian.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=chLMK3PKLsF&b=7718799&ct=11713359>.
Lazin, Fred A. "Refugee Resettlement and 'Freedom of Choice': The Case of Soviet Jewry." Center for Immigration Studies. July 2005. Web. 18 Sept. 2013. <http://www.cis.org/RefugeeResettlement-SovietJewry>.
Salgado, Sebastiao. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. 1994. Photograph. New York: Aperture Foundation, Inc., 2000. 56-57. Print.
Salgado, Sebastiao. Migrations. 1994. Pamphlet. New York: Aperture Foundation, Inc., 2000. 4. Print
Salgado, Sebastiao. Migrations. 1994. Pamphlet. New York: Aperture Foundation, Inc., 2000. 4. Print
Glorious! Your words were so powerful and engaging, I wanted to read more and more of what you had to say. Your blog is brimming with Maggie Smith! It clearly portrays your strong voice, emotion and conviction. The last paragraph is remarkably powerful: “I close my eyes and see that innocent face. Her despair burns my eyelids. I do not even know her name. How am I supposed to help her?” After reading these words, my heart swelled with sympathy. You are absolutely right! Immersed in our society of consumerism and advancement, rarely do we consider the harsh realities of millions of people around the world. I agree. Let’s take a stand!
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