Selfies during disasters:
The obsession with visualization haunts many of us everywhere, at all times, even at inappropriate or even critical times, such as taking “selfies” with natural disasters. This is what we stood for during the disasters that Algeria recently experienced – the fires – where many girls, in particular, did not find it embarrassing to take pictures in places that were completely consumed by fire, as they say, and sowed intense sadness among its people, and indeed in all of Algeria, but it was the opposite for some, when they took pictures in these places, smiling, without taking into account the feeling of loss and death.
Many photos and videos documented some scenes and practices that were not related to the spirit of solidarity during this ordeal, as some decided to document the disaster as they swayed smiling and laughing in front of the cameras, as if they were on a tourist trip, at a time when every Algerian is suffering from what happened to these areas that were enjoying life yesterday, but today, they are ashes distributed everywhere, and cannot even be looked at, so how can someone who has the time and risk, as they say, imagine with them.
It was necessary, for every visitor to these areas during this disaster, to stand in respect, reverence, and console in silence, without noise, for the fire that befell them, which destroyed everything green and dry, and wiped out all aspects of life there, as if it had not happened yesterday. The nature that used to decorate the place and delight the heart has turned into blackness.
Taking selfies at the height of disasters is like dancing on corpses. There is no difference between them, and they intersect in the absence of conscience and the spirit of solidarity with those who suffered the disaster. The question is: What benefit does someone who imagines the beauty of nature turn to ashes benefit? Or standing in the presence of a place that yesterday was filled with cries for help and pain, and among them were even those who died in this very place. Is it worth playing, joking, and documenting for the sake of publication?
The perception of disasters, whatever their type, remains among the behaviors that truly reflect the lack of conscience among many people, because it requires us, as we stand in its presence, to remember and respect the place and its people, and to console everyone injured in it, and not to have fun and play, but more than this duty, even to lighten the footsteps while walking in the place where you fell or next to it.
