the fragility of morality

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The busy streets of Paris are lively with scammers...
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Nikon D80 + 18-55mm Nikkor + Tiffen Grad ND 0.6. S-curve on RGB channel to enhance contrast. Inverted S-curve on Green and Blue channels for color. Spot healed some patches and visible dust blobs in the sky. Selective desaturated rainbow banner/signs to grey. Desaturated entire photo also slightly. See my FB page for the before and after: [link]
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I like this photo. Not necessarily because of the architectural details, color scheme, or the cool lighting effect you can sometimes achieve right after a light thunderstorm. I like this photo because it captured that girl in the bottom left corner. She holds out her clipboard with one hand and gestures with the other. She puts her hand to her mouth to ask for food and opens her palm to ask for money. She asks the girl in red and her friend to sign a petition and donate 10 euros to help deaf mutes - deaf mutes like herself...or so she says. The unfortunate truth is that the girl is neither deaf nor mute. And the money those girls donated would not be going to help any deaf mute children. She is just one of many many scammers praying on the generosity and naivete of tourists. Even though I frown down on that fake deaf mute girl for her scamming, it is because this photo captured her that I like it. For me, this photo is a reminder of the fragility of morality and its dependence on cultural background, economic condition, and personal greed...and of course to be street smart and research charitable organizations thoroughly before donating
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