Photojournalist captures the spiral into domestic abuse

[orionid]

This was on the Fark main page. It was tough to look at the photos. Personally, I think my instinct would have kicked in and I’d have put the camera down and made things worse. The fact that she was able to make sure police had been called, then resumed documenting is kudos to her.

http://lightbox.time.com/2013/02/27/photographer-as-witness-a-portrait-of-domestic-violence/#1

[bender16v]

I was saddened but not shocked by the article. I grew up near there in Eastern Ohio and that guy doesn’t look too out of place. The area is severely depressed and while my mother still lives there, I won’t move back. It’s a downward spiral of no jobs, drug abuse, and crime.

I wonder if the photographer hadn’t been there if it would have been much worse?

/Used to love going to the Millersport Sweet Corn Festival as a child.

[orionid]

Whereabouts? I grew up in Alliance and recognized most of the names in the article, but it was all pretty south of where I was. I never made it to the Sweetcorn Festival, but I’d certainly heard of it. I think in farm circles it was bigger than the state fair. I went back to visit on a road trip in 2006 and couldn’t believe the way things looked. Everything was grey, dreary and crumbling. That little whistle-stop machine-shop town that took steel from Pittsburgh and made car parts for Detroit was sturggling for a new identity. What was weird was that as old as everything looked, I couldn’t tell if it was fresh decay, or if it had always been that way and I never realized it as a kid.

The lifestyle has always been that way. I was unfortunately at the bottom of the food chain and it literally impacted my development. I was the undersized nerdy kid who had his Ham Radio license before the end of second grade but couldn’t raise a fist to defend himself. All the kids who got beat at home needed to find an outlet at school. This guy was it. By the end of third grade, the school talked to my parents about holding me back a year, figuring if I were a year older than everyone else, I’d catch up in physical size. Not so much. In seventh grade, I still wrestled at 62 pounds (in eighth grade, I grew two feet and doubled in weight).

Also: About the article. That little girl. Wow.

[ennuipoet]

I was more interested in the vitriol that spilled out from the ignorant masses castigating the photographer for “profiting” on this woman’s misery. This country is now so benightedly stupid it cannot fathom the role of the press, the ideals of journalistic credibility and editorial distance. The photographer did EXACTLY what she was supposed to do, document, report to the authorities and resume documenting. These photographs grind the horror of domestic violence and poverty in the face of America, reminding us of our failures when comes to treating people with decency and compassion. The shine a light on the darkness that dwells in the millions of American homes and all the cretinous masses can do is point their fingers at the messenger and catcall.

To quote an esteemed scientist, I don’t want to live on this planet any more.

[Pope_Larry_II]

I was more interested in the vitriol that spilled out from the ignorant masses castigating the photographer for “profiting” on this woman’s misery. This country is now so benightedly stupid it cannot fathom the role of the press, the ideals of journalistic credibility and editorial distance. The photographer did EXACTLY what she was supposed to do, document, report to the authorities and resume documenting. These photographs grind the horror of domestic violence and poverty in the face of America, reminding us of our failures when comes to treating people with decency and compassion. The shine a light on the darkness that dwells in the millions of American homes and all the cretinous masses can do is point their fingers at the messenger and catcall.

To quote an esteemed scientist, I don’t want to live on this planet any more.

There is a reason I never look at the comments section of an article. There are some incredible idiots out there or assholes who like to troll for kicks. At least with Fark you can identify them and ignore them.

I am constantly amazed at the people who are proud of their ignorance.

As for the worman in the article; I hope she can pull everything together and make a better life for herself and kids.

[ennuipoet]

I read it about in a full article on Salon:

http://www.salon.com/2013/03/01/dont_blame_the_victim_or_the_photographer/

When I was a cop, domestic violence was always the call I hated the most. Aside from the very real danger to the responding officers, it was the feeling of being unable to help the people involved. I could arrest the abuse, and I did, but I could never make the parties see the truth that this would never be a one time thing, it would happen again and continue happening until someone left. Either through incarceration, permanent separation or death. The sad thing is, 25 years later the problem hasn’t changed in the least.

[bender16v]

orionid, I grew up in Coshocton, down in strip mine country. That industry was huge in the 50s and 60s and when that slowed down the factory jobs picked up at GE, Pretty Products (auto floor mats), Edmont (gloves), etc. Now all of those companies are gone and the only two places left are a stinky paper mill and a steel mill. Even the Country Club has closed and been sold. The fact that the city is an hour and a half from anywhere probably didn’t help it. I feel the same way when I go back except I know that it is much worse now. It’s like part of the town is stuck in the past while most of the town has fallen to waste. Once you get out into the country a little it seems that the poverty is even worse. I remember one house that didn’t even have indoor plumbing as of around 1994 and I’m sure that more still exist.

My dad’s side of the family is from just outside of Lancaster and my aunt taught school in Somerset, where the couple in the article lived. I’m not sure what will happen to all of the small ex-manufacturing towns in Ohio but the outlook is dim.

I’m glad that this woman got out of that situation. It seems that when there is a family member that can help it makes things a lot better. When somebody is all alone there aren’t many options.

[bender16v]

This story also made me think about another abuse story in the news in Coshocton: “Doctors determined Christopher Jon “C.J.” Starkey suffered cigarette burns and bites; fractures to 12 ribs, the right femur and a fibula; extensive bruising to the head and face; and a suspected liver injury, according to court documents.” The worst part is that C.J. was three months old. The mother just plead guilty and this all happened right after the father was release from jail for domestic abuse.

[orionid]

orionid, I grew up in Coshocton, down in strip mine country. That industry was huge in the 50s and 60s and when that slowed down the factory jobs picked up at GE, Pretty Products (auto floor mats), Edmont (gloves), etc. Now all of those companies are gone and the only two places left are a stinky paper mill and a steel mill. Even the Country Club has closed and been sold. The fact that the city is an hour and a half from anywhere probably didn’t help it. I feel the same way when I go back except I know that it is much worse now. It’s like part of the town is stuck in the past while most of the town has fallen to waste. Once you get out into the country a little it seems that the poverty is even worse. I remember one house that didn’t even have indoor plumbing as of around 1994 and I’m sure that more still exist.

My dad’s side of the family is from just outside of Lancaster and my aunt taught school in Somerset, where the couple in the article lived. I’m not sure what will happen to all of the small ex-manufacturing towns in Ohio but the outlook is dim.

I’m glad that this woman got out of that situation. It seems that when there is a family member that can help it makes things a lot better. When somebody is all alone there aren’t many options.

Oh, man. I gotcha. At least in the northern rust belt, even though everything was blue collar/no collar, things were booming for years. The mineral belt, to me, always felt like West Virginia and Kentucky’s bastard step-brother.

[orionid]

I was more interested in the vitriol that spilled out from the ignorant masses castigating the photographer for “profiting” on this woman’s misery. This country is now so benightedly stupid it cannot fathom the role of the press, the ideals of journalistic credibility and editorial distance. The photographer did EXACTLY what she was supposed to do, document, report to the authorities and resume documenting. These photographs grind the horror of domestic violence and poverty in the face of America, reminding us of our failures when comes to treating people with decency and compassion. The shine a light on the darkness that dwells in the millions of American homes and all the cretinous masses can do is point their fingers at the messenger and catcall.

To quote an esteemed scientist, I don’t want to live on this planet any more.

There is a reason I never look at the comments section of an article. There are some incredible idiots out there or assholes who like to troll for kicks. At least with Fark you can identify them and ignore them.

I am constantly amazed at the people who are proud of their ignorance.

As for the worman in the article; I hope she can pull everything together and make a better life for herself and kids.

Very much this.

[Author]

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