The children of Guadalcanal, a photo from Guadalcanal, West

Photographer's Note

Melanesian children, dark skinned, many with naturally blond hair, are seen congregated at a WWII monument on a hilltop in Guadalcanal, where a horrific battle took place 74 years ago, and thousands of American and Japanese soldiers perished. The actual monument consists of a platform on which a 2-meter triangular obelisk has been erected. It is the platform that the children have climbed to greet the visitors. Most of them are not looking at the camera... but then, there are a dozen different cameras all firing simultaneously. Finally, the children all appear stern but curious. When I showed them their own pictures on the screen of my camera, they all broke into smiles.

In my travels, I've seen the battlefields of Troy and Gallipoli, Sevastopol and Hastings, and I live next to a Civil War Battlefields in the United States... It is a sad truism uttered by an old American President, Herbert Hoover, "Older men declare war. But it is the youth that must fight and die."

The islanders of Oceania are divided culturally into three groups: the Melanesian who migrated to the present day Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji and New Caledonia; the islanders who migrated to the Marshall Islands, Papua — New Guinea and Mariana Islands to the north of Melanesia are known as the Micronesians. A more expansive area was settled by the Polynesians who migrated to Hawaii, Samoa, Tonga, French Polynesia, Tonga, New Zealand... These migrations are thought to have taken place between 3000-1000 BC. In Workshop 1, is a map showing the three cultural groups. Of course, the Aborigines of Australia date back about 35,000 years and are known to have come from Africa by way of southern Asia.

Near the lower left of the photo are seen relics collected from the battlefield — spent shells, spoons, and coca cola bottles. In Workshop 2 is a close-up of the war relics dug out from the ground.

pajaran, papagolf21, Royaldevon, holmertz, jhm, ikeharel, Gigidusud, Fis2, alvaraalto, worldcitizen, abmdsudi, macjake, ourania, PaulVDV, mcmtanyel, adores ha puntuado esta nota como útil.

Critiques | Translate

emka (158156) 2016-03-12 23:38

Hello Bulent, How interesting the picture of these blond children. Beautiful multiple portrait. and funny to see the T-shirts they have on the remote island - Angry Birds. favorite play of my granddaughter. Even there the commercial trap for the parents. Did they gathered to welcome passengers of the cruiser? I am really envious you went there :). This is impossible for me.

WArm regard s Malgo

papagolf21 (152607) 2016-03-12 23:42

Bonjour, cher ami Bulent,
Très bonne note d'accompagnement pour décrire le sujet. Félicitations pour cette très originale présentation. L'oeil se pose un peu partout dans la composition et observe avec intérêt.
L'ensemble me fait penser à un tableau (peinture).
Bravo !
Amitiés.
Philippe

Royaldevon (85932) 2016-03-13 1:34

Hello Bulent,

Your expansive notes were very useful to accompany your photograph and explain the features and the people.

I'm curious about the children. Were they using the monument as a raised terrace to watch something, because they don't appear to be posing for you as most are looking away from camera.
It's a shot which says much about the shrinking world, when a t shirt of a western cartoon appears on a remote Pacific Island!
A very candid shot of this group. We cannot help speculating about their age, their characters and their relationships.

Have a great day,
Bev :-)

king (4242) 2016-03-13 1:46

Hello Bulent,
You posted a nice portait of these children. Curieus where they are looking at. Two of them are looking at you, some left of you and most children right of you...
Well done!
Have a nice day,
Huub

lousat (139266) 2016-03-13 1:49

Hi Bulent,a new interesting capture of the childs after the portrait,very very curious to see black skin with blond hairs,an excellent pic where i like a lot the different face expresions,perfect quality as usual.Have a nice Sunday and thanks,Luciano

holmertz (102700) 2016-03-13 3:50

Hello Bülent,
It's a nice group of kids but they seem rather bored of the cameras, or maybe they are just shy. That makes me wonder why they climbed the monument when the group of tourists arrived. Did anyone tell them to get up there to pose? In spite of their poverty they don't look undernourished. Your note is very informative and the WS with the map is a useful addition to this contribution. As for the war relics many such things can be bought in Vietnam, but I got a strong suspicion that they were often newly produced and made to look old.
Kind regards,
Gert

jhm (211736) 2016-03-13 4:04

Dear Bulent,

Our children know not how are happy, when we see his children, but she know not the other culture.
Yes blond hair must we search at the German troops!
Composition and presentation are pleasant to look at.
Also your two second pictures are a nice addition
Very well done, TFS.

Have a nice Sunday,
John.

kasianowak (17676) 2016-03-13 6:12

Hi Bulent
Great portrait of the Solomon Islands children accompanied by an intresting and informative note.
I'm reading a book about Pacific islands (The Happy Isles of Oceania by Paul Theroux) and it's wonderful to find this post on TE at the same time.
Very true statement about wars.
Best wishes
Kasia

ikeharel (113345) 2016-03-13 10:01

Marvelous to see vhildren from the other side of the world, and posing for a group photo, nice taken moment Bulent.
Amazingly they are all blond, curly-blond, descendants of European colonialists in the past...?
And most intriguing, how did you make them standing for you to take such a photo??
Cheers for that beauty,
Ike

Gigidusud (21679) 2016-03-13 15:36

Hello dear Bulent,
An interesting story with three pictures and the very explicit notes. Very touching this poor child portrait. Well done!
Thanks for sharing.
Gigi

pajaran (115891) 2016-03-14 0:42

Pozdrav.
Lep pogled i trenutak, interesantan i dobar tekst ...
Dobar rad sa fotografijom u radionici, lepo pokazana deca i stara roba na pijaci, dobar kontrast i ostrina, lepe boje.
Deca su nase najvece bogatstvo i buducnost.
Sve najbolje, srecno.
Paja.

Hello.
Beautiful view and the moment, interesting and good text ...
Good work with photography in the workshop, nicely demonstrated children and old commodities on the market, a good contrast and sharpness, beautiful colors.
Children are our greatest wealth and future.
All the best, good luck.
Paja.

Fis2 (170747) 2016-03-14 2:28

Witaj Bulent!
Children are nice, grateful subject for the photographer.
I like this daily life shot.
Well done.
Warm regards fom Poland.
Krzysztof

alvaraalto (42804) 2016-03-14 2:44

Hello Bulent,
Although these children are impressed by a totally different situation, your picture of them appeal to the reality in Europe with so many refugees and many children among them from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Helplessness and hope for a better future is the emotion of the present.
Groet Rob

boa (8039) 2016-03-14 14:29

Hi Bulent,
this is a nice picture, taken from a part of the world that I wish that I can visit in the future. Children are often very rewarding to take photos of. They are natural in front of the camera and often curious and smiling. In this shot they looks a bit reserved though. I read your note with interest and notice their naturally blond hair. Interesting to see that in this part of the world. Tfs!

Best regards/
Boa

worldcitizen (16072) 2016-03-14 16:48

Hello Bulent,
These children do look very serious, and out of this group, the child on the far right really grabs my attention. He or she has a hint of a smile on their face, and is also showing a bit of spunk with their crossed arms. It's always interesting to see children from around the world, but also sad when we know they have so little...

abmdsudi (95869) 2016-03-14 20:18

Hi Bulent
Your in-depth descriptions add so much to one's appreciation of the capture. Very much enjoyed the way you get down to their level showing a lovely moment
of pure innocence and a universal subject. The range of natural emotion in the faces is astounding and yet calm appraising look draw the eyes in. A very charming and engaging image, a tender moment you have caught it beautifully, the natural blond hair as you have noted, is especially unique. Good effort, Congrats
Best regards

ChrisJ (171822) 2016-03-15 11:31

Hello Bulent

I hope you're okay now after falling over in Brisbane. You could always say your wife beat you up for forgetting your anniversary ;-)! I also had problems going from left hand drive to right to left and back again when I went from Australia to Korea to Japan and back to Korea. I was super cautious and thrown out by the quick changes in traffic flow. A good daily life scene from the Solomon Islands of the solemn looking fuzzy haired children. I wish now I had seen the Austerlitz battlefield in Czech Republic where Napoleon defeated the Russians and Austrians. http://www.historvius.com/austerlitz-battlefield-504/

It is a little known fact that the Australian troops were the first to defeat the Japanese at Milne Bay on the southern tip of the island of New Guinea, on their previously unstoppable march southward. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Milne_Bay

jmdias (115156) 2016-03-16 2:17

bulent

nice photo and note. interesting how most of the children are concerned or with serious expressions. curious their blond hair too. very nice image from a remote place. TFS.

hugs

jorge

macjake (98456) 2016-03-18 9:45

Hi Bulent
it seems like there are two of the children looking directly at you, reminds me so much of children photos in India and Cuba.

Very interesting to see the clothing on the 2 girls on the right as well.

This is one of those photos where you sit here and just enjoy the children, examine them and see what peeks our interest. fun shot
cheers
Craig

serp2000 (47063) 2016-03-19 5:35

And once again. Outstanding photo from Oceania! Excellent capture of the future of Solomon Islands. So different faces, they are full of ideas and emotions. And special thanks for the note. Best wishes from Urals! Serghei

ourania (51103) 2016-03-19 9:34

Hello Bulent,
this is a very interesting picture, so many portraits and the intensity created by all the children sticking together opposite the visitors. You chose effective framing for this scene and created great balance by placing the four big children on the one side and all of the little ones on the other. You handled the lighting demands skillfully. There are many relics like the ones in your pictures on Leros but they lie in private collections and museums. I hope the children get prospects for a life that will honour and please them. Congratulations and thank you!
All the best, have a great weekend,
Ourania

G2G (103) 2016-03-19 13:34

Hi bulent,

So many photos here on TE all waiting for my (un)wise critique. Which to choose?
My eyes were kept on these very young people. There is someting about them that is pecular. In my eye their body language is that of an older age, more mature. Look at the girl at the right. She is standing very grounded, arms folded and eyes telling: we shall see...
Thats what I saw in a glance.
Greetings Gerard

PaulVDV (62892) 2016-03-21 10:13

Hello Bülent,
Very interesting note of the three groups of people living in Oceania. What I don't understand well is if these distinct groups are related between themselves or not, in terms of culture, language, religion or anything else.
Surprising to see these kids with naturally blond hair.
There are only a few who have an eye for the photographer.
The others are distracted by something else.
A very nice group picture.
Best regards, Paul

mcmtanyel (68503) 2016-03-21 20:01

Selamlar Bülent Bey,
These children are too cute for words. Their attire makes for a colorful photo.
Regards,
MT
PS. Thank you for your comments on Mary Poppins. As you may have guessed, my real intention was to show the workshop photo, which is the sharper of the two images but as per TE rules, it couldn't be the main entry.

adores (46979) 2016-04-11 15:34

Hi Bulent!
It's not everyday that we see photos of these islands. Interesting to see so many with blond hair here. The expressions are also very nice. Good shot!