Thread by @_Shams11

This image of the infamous "Afghan Girl" is a fine lesson in how journalistic images can often be orchestrated and why we shouldn’t let them colour our perception.

For millions she represents the suffering of children in war and the consequences of conflict on ordinary people.

https://twitter.com/MailOnline/status/1463973586906103809

In reality, the "haunted eyes" were not "reflecting the fear of war" but the fear of her personal boundaries being reached and her beliefs being trampled on by an unfamiliar male photographer in an exploitative situation, grossly violating her agency and consent.

To put it simply, on seeing this blue-eyed girl in her school, the photographer asked her teacher to *instruct* her to cooperate.

Later, the girl was pushed out of her comfort zone, pressurized into looking him in the eyes and *revealing* her face, so as to be photographed.

14 years later, when finally asked about her consent, she said she felt "angry, nervous and sad."

Later in 2016, she would go on to lament how the unwanted fame "created more problems than benefits" and led to her imprisonment on charges of fraudulent identity.

Meanwhile, the photographer, after exposing a little girl to us against her wishes, went on to monetize her face across the globe and imperial messengers like .@MailOnline still continue to (mis)use the picture and the flase symbolism projected onto it.

Had it not been for the unwanted photograph, probably the hard fate wouldn't have befallen her.

Here's a detailed video about the grossly misrepresented and disturbing story.