Published by on

A photo of a female photographer carrying a baby on her back whilst working in South Africa has gone viral, opening the door to numerous opinions surrounding social issues.

Taking to Twitter, people expressed their thoughts on the captured moment shared by @danielmarven. A wave of social commentary swiftly came forth. Despite not knowing the full context surrounding the photograph of the photographer, the opinions shared painted a series of pictures with the brush of their own interpretations. Like art, the picture led people to see what they wanted.

To some, she became an inspirational woman. Someone who merged maternal responsibilities with the hustle culture 2021 demands for both males and females.

In this interpretation, the shot captures this: as much as women may have made strides in work opportunities, certain parenting responsibilities often fall on the mother’s shoulders – an inequality.

To others, she portrayed nothing empowering, and rather something upsetting.

For these people, the photo was one in which they created an elaborate story where she had been abandoned by the father and was left with the responsibility of a child. To the people who saw this interpretation of the photograph, debates about father absenteeism in South Africa arose.

She stood as a young mother for some. These people decided that she shouldn’t have had a child at such a young age before she had accumulated financial security.

In response to the aforementioned interpreted stance, other people fought for our anonymous photographer and expressed that she could be as wealthy as Mr. Monopoly and still want to have her baby nearby to take care of, without having to worry about her child resting in the hands of a stranger.

There are many women in powerful leadership positions who subscribe to being able to work whilst being a mother, and they’ve all been famously photographed.

‘New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden is the first female world leader to bring her baby, three-month-old Neve Te Aroha, to the United Nations General Assembly in New York’ -BBC | Photograph: Reuters
‘A photo of Swedish MEP Jytte Guteland with her young son went viral on social media in March 2017. She said she wanted to normalise bringing children to work so that parents could do so when necessary.’ -BBC | Photograph: Reuters
‘Former MEP Licia Ronzulli’s daughter Vittoria became famous for sitting with her mum Licia while she attended sessions in the European Parliament in Strasbourg.’ – BBC | Photograph: Getty Images

In reality, we don’t know who the female photographer is, whether she just happened to have her baby with her that day, or even whether it was her own child. However, like a piece of art without a rationale, the interpretations people provided reflect our society and the social issues that exist regardless.

It was also interesting to play witness to just how many stories people can create off a single photograph, writes Cape {town} Etc’s Ashleigh Nefdt. Maybe this is why the cliche goes that a picture is worth 1000 words, and perhaps in those words, a web of stories based on our own musings. Nonetheless, the mystery photo got me thinking as much as it did other locals.

Should women have the opportunity to bring their little ones into their professional lives and have companies compensate for this? Where does the justice toward absent fathers come from, if it ever does? And how do we find a way to normalise hustle culture so that it doesn’t look different for women, especially for mothers in the 21st century?

Also Read:

Cape Town matriculant needs assistance following a devastating house fire

Picture: Twitter

Article written by