In the darkness, place a studio light behind your model. You will get a silhouette like this one. Fill it up with whatever you like.

You can try different ideas, tell a different story.

I have a light personality, it is why I am not interested in doing dark, creepy photography even though it is more popular, marketable and straightforward. Even in the darkness there is light if you choose the light.

In my previous blog post on this topic, there is a portrait of a young girl.  It is an old portrait – now the girl is happily married, with a family.  At that time, at the age of fifteen, she had already lost her mother, and had been through trials that would have broken many grown up people. I call her ‘survivor’. She is beautiful inside and out, sweet soul, but she is also as tough as a rock. Life has tossed some opportunities her way, and she never missed one. Smart, hard working, young woman of integrity, she has built her life only relying on her own decisions. A very young mother, she has a child with disability.  Life isn’t getting any easier, but it is a busy and happy life anyway. We can decide how to feel about our life.

I know that not everyone can be as strong as this young woman, but many people just have to be strong. Last night I met an acquaintance, a former refugee from Syria, now an Irish citizen, a respectable family man and community member, fully assimilated into society. Life isn’t easy, but he is getting there, with a smile and good cheer. He would wave away any ‘political correctness’ like an annoying fly.

These two people who had a bad start in life used all the help they could get and built their new life from scratch. They never demanded a special treatment.

The government institutions can help you with material things. Your moral value is your own.  Compassion, tact, care, gratitude cannot be enforced.

Political correctness hurts both the sender and the receiver. It is a distrust, a doubt, a fear that keeps us from doing our best when we communicate with others. It is a myth of a Total truth that makes people reluctant to speak the Necessary Truth! Instead of reaching to each other, people avoid each other.

Now tell me – are these normal human relationships?

Political correctness is invented to hide the lack of moral value. Don’t take that bait, don’t swallow that poison. You have been manipulated, and your CHOICE of being a better person is stolen. I would say, this is a glimpse of the Zombie Apocalypse – people stripped of their identity and free will.

Growing up in the Eastern Block, I remember the term “political correctness” too well, and I know where it is leading.

Here are some unsolicited advice – partly photography-related 🙂

1. Don’t stay in the darkness if you don’t want someone else to sneak into your head and stuff it up with labels, slogans and ready-made recipes. Don’t be a silly puppet.
2. Live today. Learn from the past but don’t go back there. If the only light you have got is coming from behind, read #1.

Have a wonderful weekend!