The hidden truth

Photo: The Big Forget

Photographer: Lee-Ann Olwage

Awarded as one of the winning images in the global and regional categories from World Press Photo contest 2023

I was immediately impressed by the color of the photo, which was a bright color scheme that brought a feeling of closeness and comfort to the viewer. A woman in the center was the main character of the photo wearing tone-sur-tone yellow t-shirt, skirt also head scarf, her face showed happiness and a bit of thinking. She was looking into those women who were moving around her, whose faces were blurred because of the movement. This made all attention concentrated on the central woman. The background of the photo may be a classroom with a blackboard behind, suddenly a thought came to my mind, was this woman a teacher and those women around her were her students, their movement indicated the change of time, also the change of society under the development of education in Africa countries?

Many ideas came to my mind, but all ideas had a common trait, which was a good feeling, a positive energy.

However, I was brought to a completely opposed feeling when the truth of the photo was disclosed. This photo was taken in a "witch camp" where elderly people with dementia are detained. People who hold traditional beliefs in Ghana and across sub-Saharan Africa sometimes see dementia symptoms such as confused speech, uncontrolled swearing, and disoriented wandering as signs of sorcery. Women are accused of being witches more frequently than men. In Ghana, they may flee or be sent away to live in so-called “witch camps”. The camps are controversial. On the one hand, they offer refuge and protection from violence; on the other, residents are stigmatized and open to exploitation by local chiefs, who earn money from trials and rituals associated with witchcraft.

We can see that there will be many perspectives on a picture, that perspective may be right or wrong, but the truth can never be denied no matter how cruel it is.