Suzanne Harrington: Using tech to make genocide victims smile is appalling
Before it made the news, a friend sent me a message from someone who had been contacted by a Cambodian guy who was really, really upset. He was upset about some Irish photograph ‘colourist’ who had thought it a good idea to redo photos of Khmer Rouge genocide victims so that they were not just in bright shiny colours, but with added smiles. No, you’re not misreading. Someone actually did that. Someone Irish. It was in Vice, before international reaction made them take it down.
So, Mr ‘Colourist’, two things: firstly, you don’t deserve to be named because your actions have generated a ton of publicity already, even if it’s all bad; and secondly, what on earth were you thinking?
Have you been to Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum? The clue is in the name. A former school in the centre of Phnom Penh turned into a killing centre, now a museum. One of the bleakest places on earth, even more visceral than Berlin’s Holocaust Museum. Full of human skulls, piles and piles of them, and walls filled with black and white head shots of the former owners of these skulls - terrified people with terrified eyes.
Tens of thousands of ordinary people tortured and killed in this building under the orders of Pol Pot. Like the Nazis, the Khmer Rouge liked to meticulously document everything – each person photographed as their blindfold removed. The photographs were mostly taken by a fifteen-year-old boy.
You, Mr Colourist, thought it would be a good idea to take these old black and white photos of haunted, shell shocked people and add smiles. Add smiles, so that they look like they are going online dating, instead of to their deaths. You made them look happier than the average passport photo. You even made up some crap about the women being more likely to smile because they were nervous. Seriously?
On what planet is it acceptable for some white European to plunder for profit and publicity the harrowing artefacts of another country’s recent genocidal past? Not this one, Mr Colourist. Not this one.
Or mugshots of the Birmingham Six or the Guildford Four. Smile, smile, smile! Or starving Famine victims, if such images existed – big group smile now! Say cheese!
It's getting boring, this misuse of tech. Great that we have the digital ability to colour in the past, to make old photos more engaging to the modern eyeball. This works fine if it’s something innocuous and everyday. But when it comes to tweaking historical images to make genocide victims smile – just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Having to write a sentence like that to a fellow human is depressing as hell.
Have you apologised yet?
