I have have had a special interest in photographing children's faces, particularly of pre-school children. Their faces communicate their inner state. As adults, we have mastered the art of concealing or camouflaging our inner state.
As I watched this infant showing his anxiety when he was photographed I grew curious to enquire from the parents occasions when he shows such a facial expression. They mentioned to me several such occasions.
One such occasion was when he watches the Television. He would cry, hold on to his mother or would insist to move away from the room. He is fond of music. So it can't be the audio in the TV that makes him anxious.
The parents also noticed that when he saw police men on the street or in the television, he would scream.
The mother used to tell him, when he was hesitant to eat food, that she would tell the policeman if he would not eat. He would soon cry and eat.
The mother confessed several such instances, when she would use threatening statements to make him comply with what she wanted him to do such as, 'the doctor would give an injection, if he diid not stop crying' . It was night a mare for her to take him to hospital as she would cry, the moment he sights the hospital or doctors with white coats or stethoscope.
It is likely that adults infuse fears or anxiety to children and they stay with them. We need to present the world around us more pleasantly and consolingly to children. What freezes a child emotionally is anxiety. What liberates a child is confidence and clarity so that he or she grows up with a true estimate of realities around.
I know of a couple who would let their daughter stroke a pet dog, in order to allay any fear of a dog. However they would not let her do it to a stray dog. This the principle for childhood primary learning experience. To present the environment to a child in its true perspective.
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
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