Diversity of situations

Abstract

Let me describe some photographs from the book The Cradle of Inequality with texts by Cristovam Buarque and photos by Sebastião Salgado.8 On the cover of the book a girl, sitting in a dark classroom, is concentrating on taking notes. She might be about 7 years of age. She is wearing a white dress; she has bare feet; she looks poor. Inside the book we see several scenes representing similarly poignant moments. We see a photograph of a group of young people sitting in the shadow of big trees. They are refugees from the Sudan who have arrived in Kenya. Together with a blackboard balancing on an easel, the shadows of the trees make up the classroom. A camel is passing by on the outskirts of the classroom.