Hmm I would like to clarify something. As many of you see I have been modelling (photoshoot and filming) for the poppy-scarf campain by a charity called British Future (britishfuture.org/) that aims to work towards an inclusive British society with a positive outlook on migration and integration in Britain. I cannot argue with that as I am someone who would fit into that category and therefore really resonate with the aims of the charity. I had been asked by someone I know from my Uni if I wanted to model for her campaign along with two other Uni friends, being photographed by someone Ive encountered many times as a photographer and am comfortable with. And as a German I had a very basic idea as to what the poppy symbol represents - the remembrance of soldiers who fell during wars, including the first and second world war, and that the money made with the poppies go out to war survivors and their families. As I generally see solidiers as victims anyway, I didnt think of it as anything bad. So when I was asked to model for a girl who is studying to be a fashion designer, who maybe saw this as a chance to grow, I was happy to help out and also found comfort in the fact that I knew most of the people involved. However, I had no idea it would be all over the Daily Mail and I also didnt know that there was an article our faces would be used for, hence I wasnt prepared for some of the backlash I have been reading today. And it is only today that I found out that this random woman at the photoshoot who assured me that the photos would not be used was actually from the Daily Mail and those two guys with the third camera who interviewed us, also assuring us that it was nothing major, were from the BBC. We thought they were all from the same crew as none of them had introduced themselves officially. So I am upset and angry, first and foremost with myself, for not having asked more questions and making it easy for the media to use me, assuming that being familiar with the people involved would be enough for me to good heartedly help someone out and not question the people I didnt know. At first I was surprised to see the article today and initially perceived it as something positive but upon reflecting and actually realising what happened I am more than upset and outraged that our faces have been used without our consent, whether it is for a good cause or not. And upon further research I now know that there are many different opinions about this matter and I just wanted to make clear where I stand. I dont support any wars and killings of anybody, including soliders. And I can assure that nobody urged anyone to wear anything, we simply thought we are supporting a young fashion-designer to be with her little project. I am thankful for all the postive comments and support here on facebook but I have to say that I am not pleased with what has happened and feel very played and used. This has been a big lesson for me and I will be a lot more careful and cautious in the future.
Posted on: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 22:32:38 +0000