One of the most important facts about the photo of Tharnicaa and Kopika is that it is only them. Without an adult in the frame we become, for at least the brief moment that we look, the adult in the equation. We cannot help but feel responsible because this is what adults are in relation to children: responsible for their care. Responsible for the situation in which they find themselves.
And once we have that thought it is possible we will have the next: that we are responsible not only for these children, but for the other children affected by our terrible treatment of asylum seekers.
Photograph of Biloela sisters shows power of an image over words. By Sean Kelly, The Age