India has always been a hot favourite for all the photographers and explorers when it comes to topics like hunger and poverty. This time again, Italian Photographer Alessio Mamo decided to capture the hunger and poverty in India and showcase it in front of the world but Twitterati is not happy with it.
The award-winning Italian freelance photographer Alessio Mamo depicted malnourished children with their faces covered in his latest photo series on World Press Photo’s Instagram handle. He explained that he presented the table “and some fake food and then “told people to dream about some food that they would like to find on their table.” The moment he shared his work on the social media, it triggered a storm as netizens felt it as an insensible move. The photographer earned many harsh comments on the pictures. Mamo further claimed that the pictures he took are from Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh as they are the poorest states in India.
Here is his viral post and the outrage it has triggered-
Wow, this is tasteless and crass. From photographer @alessiomamo: “I brought with me a table and some fake food, and I told people to dream about some food that they would like to find on their table.” https://t.co/kXHa5Tv9rv pic.twitter.com/eeZXUlNMak — Melissa Lyttle (@melissalyttle) July 22, 2018
1/This was a very badly-thought concept, one that follows the many “here’s all the food a kid eats in a week” concept we see all the time. But this one turned exploitative. It rightly should be criticized ! The work should never have been produced.
— olivierclaurent (@olivierclaurent) July 23, 2018
Wow, this is tasteless and crass. From photographer @alessiomamo: “I brought with me a table and some fake food, and I told people to dream about some food that they would like to find on their table.” https://t.co/kXHa5Tv9rv pic.twitter.com/eeZXUlNMak — Melissa Lyttle (@melissalyttle) July 22, 2018
@WorldPressPhoto before you hand off you IG feed to former award winners – take a look at their work and screen for exploitation and cruelty.
“I brought with me a table and some fake food, and I told people to dream about some food that they would like to find on their table.” pic.twitter.com/eOfUZY82LJ
— Kainaz Amaria (@kainazamaria) July 22, 2018
Am stunned and shocked by this “set up” image as well as with the judges from @WorldPressPhoto. Did @AlessioMamo feed these children after the shoot was over? Doubt it. — Curtis Ackerman (@curtiscamera) July 23, 2018
This photographer brought his own fake food to put in front of these starving children in India. He asked them to dream about what kind of food they wanted to put on the table. This is an example of #journalism with no moral compass. @WorldPressPhoto why are you supporting this? pic.twitter.com/4hmDzSJO45
— Lauren Wolfe (@Wolfe321) July 23, 2018
Mamo won the second prize at the World Press Photo of the Year Awards 2018 in the People category for his photo of an 11-year-old victim of a missile explosion in Iraq’s Kirkuk. Well, we don’t think he is winning another award for the above photos.
This week #WPPh2018 Photo Contest winner @alessio_mamo takes over our Instagram feed! Alessio was awarded 2nd prize in the People Singles category, for this picture of Manal. Check the feed for more: https://t.co/R1k6mFF5IC pic.twitter.com/F9LfxSEDVE
— World Press Photo (@WorldPressPhoto) July 16, 2018