Today I have been reading through this book -
and I have found a few photographers who's images stood out to me.
Patrick Brown
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| Zomba, Malawi, 1994 |
I find this image quite problematic when analysing it against my work. Firstly, if this image where being used to try and get people motivated to donate time, money, aid to these people then it would succeed. It pulls at the heart strings in quite an obvious way.
However, in the actual print it is easier to see, the Doctors hands are white and the child is black. I feel that this really highlights 'the other'. If the purpose is to plea with white people then again it speaks volumes.
It is a massive deal that so many people just glaze over and don't even realise when looking at photographs like this .. a black child is dying or in need of major help
.. a white doctor is giving the help
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| Korem Camp, Ethiopia, November 1984 |
I personally really like this image.. it is a tender moment between what we presume to be a mother and child. The lady has a wedding ring on her finger, something that is not normally seen in photographs made to appeal for money. Having a ring, shows that she is not completely poor, even though the clothes are dirty and loose.
I looked at this image and immediately thought 'the child is ill' 'the mother is leaving' 'they are praying' 'they are upset' 'life must be so hard'
However when time is taken.. and I started actually studying the image further I noticed things like the ring.
The caption next to this image reads 'Burnett uses his camera to demonstrate to the Wesern world the widespread famine and starvation throughout northeast Africa. He reflects: "Its still happening today, even though the West continues to generate more and more wealth.'
From this I think the image was created with the intention of pulling heart strings and trying to get Westerners to donate to these people out. Although, I can see myself creating an image similar to this, simply to document a tender moment between a mother and her child. Which shows that an image can easily be understood in many different ways, depending most probably on the background/mind set of the viewer.
I will need to really take care in how my images are presented - to try and make sure the reason for the images is shown truthfully.
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| Tahoua, Niger, 2005 |
I personally love silhouette images in general, but I took a liking to this image because I feel it shows children at play. It shows that their lives are not just sitting, crying, suffering, posing for numerous photographs to make people feel sorry for them.
This image really touches my heart.. but doesn't make me feel sorry for anybody.
I personally would much rather look at a series of images of African children at play and feel like I should donate to keep things that way.. than look at dying children.
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| Dhewu's daughter, Tengenenge, Zimbabwe, 1994 |
This image is in colour, and quite bright colours. I think it shows the heat of Africa better.
We are looking at a young child, looking at somebody else. When I first looked at this image, I felt that maybe she was looking at perhaps other children in play, whilst she washes up and does chores. Then my mind began to wonder, do the other children have parents doing their chores for them and she is orphan doing it by herself. Or perhaps, she is orphan doing her jobs, watching her younger siblings to make sure they are not leaving her sight.
There is again a lot that you can read from this image. Are we meant to feel sorry for her? What was the intention when this image was taken?
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| Mali, 1985 |
This image to me feels cold. It makes me feel so cold looking at it, especially the child with no clothes on. However, this image is taken in Mali in the drought, so actually it is so hot. The white vastness of the image though gives it a totally different feel.
Something to bear in mind when I am photographing.
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| Female Circumcision, Guinea-Bissau |
I find this image quite harrowing. The girls stare straight into camera, almost jumps out of the image and grabs you. The tears down her face, and the composition of the image make it such an emotional, captivating image. You almost feel compelled to stare back into her gaze, yet when you do so suddenly feel uncomfortable.
Her expression in some ways seems more like anger than anything. Like she is convicting the viewer of something bad. You feel bad for staring back at her, even though she cannot see you.
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| Dembel Jumpora, Guinea-Bissau |
Again I like this image because it is more playful. From the same series as the above image, yet a completely different response from the viewer. There is no eye-contact, and it seems that none of the children have noticed the camera, so it is lighter viewing and you do not feel bad for being an on-looker.
