[Leica] Migrant father : sorry, this is the genuine text!

[j2m46 at hotmail.fr (Jean-Michel Mertz)]

Thank you Philippe, Jayanand, Geoff, Luis, Dr Ted, Tina, Ric, Steve, 
Douglas, Jay, Alan, Gerry, Peter, Jim, Nathan: I love your comments and 
appreciation, thanks for looking and responding! Sure, when the picture 
appeared on my screen in B&W (M8, summicron 35 asph. + lightroom + 
silvereffex) I couldn't help thinking of Dorothea Lange's 1936 series - the 
way the boy gazes into some vague and uncertain future, the dirt on his 
face, the comforting presence / arms of his father, the focus on his eyes 
... I thought there was a slight similarity. Sorry to compare this to 
someone as famous as D. Lange! The difference is that my picture is 
absolutely spontaneous: this is a single picture of a single event! We met 
this migrant family in the South of France, on our way to Albi - there are 
still many such migrant families in Europe, traveling from place to place in 
their mobile homes or trailers. There's indeed a fierce controversy as to 
whether they should be asked to settle down or travel back to Romania, their 
country of origin, supposedly. Well, anyway, our grand children played with 
their children and as things happen, we started talking, etc. and then one 
child jumped into his dad's arms and I grabbed my camera. That's the story. 
True, the B&W brings about some pathos that wasn't there at all at the 
start. Interesting thought about the way reality can be transformed once the 
camera has caught the picture!

Jean-Michel